B    3    IMS    fl7M 


LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

%eceiveci         JAN      3    1893    .  ,8g 

tAccdSsioiis  No.  LfCj^oS" .  O ass  No. 


u 


*i»-^ 


iV- 


^^md 


■^'^i 


Epochs  of  Church  History. 

Edited  by  the  Rev.  M.  CREIGHTON,  M.A., 
Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  in  the  University  of  Cambridge. 

Fcp.  8vo,  price  80  cents  each. 

THE  BEFOKMATION  IN  ENGLAND.    By  the  Rev.  Canon  Perry 

{Now  ready. 

THE  ENGLISH  CHURCH  IN  OTHER  LANDS;  or,  THE 
SPIRITUAL  EXPANSION  OF  ENGLAND.  By  Rev.  H.  W.  Tuckkh, 
M.A.,  Secretary  to  the  tioc.ety  for  the  Propagation  oi  the  Gospel. 

{Ready. 

The  following  is  a  List  of  the  Volumes  at  present  proposed  : 

THE  GEKMAN  REFORMATION.  By  Rev.  M.  CREronxoN,  M.A., 
D.C.L.,  Professor  of  Ecclesiostial  History  in  the  University  of  Cambridge. 

ENGiiAND  AND  THE  PAPACY.  By  Rev.  W.  Hunt,  M.A.,  Tri^iiy 
College,  Oxford. 

WYCLIP  AND  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  REFORMA- 
TION.   By  Reginald  Lank  Poole,  M.A.,  Balliol  College,  Oxford. 

THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  EARLY  FATHERS.  By  Rev.  A.  Plum- 
MER,  D.D.,  Master  of  University  College,  Durham. 

THE  ARIAN  CONTROVERSY.  By  H.  M.  Gwatkin,  M.A.,  Lecturer 
and  late  Fellow  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge. 

THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  ROMAlN  EMPIRE.  By  Rev.  A.  Carb, 
M.A.,  late  Fellow  of  Oriel  College,  Oxford. 

THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  EASTERN  EMPIRE.  By  Rev.  H.  F 
TozER,  M.A.,  Lecturer  and  late  Fellow  ol  Exeier  College,  Oxford. 

THE  RELIGIOUS  REVIVAL  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH 
CENTURY.    By  Rev.  J.  H.  Overton,  M.A.    {Ready. 

THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  CAMBRIDGE.    By  J,   Bass   Mullinger, 

M.A.,  Lecturer  of  bt.  Jobn's  Colltge,  Cambridge, 

THE  UNIVERSITY   OF  OXFORD.     {Ready. 

CHURCH  AND  STATE  IN  MODERN  TIMES. 

THE  REFORMATION   IN  ENGLAND. 

THE  WARS  OF  RELIGIOiM. 

THE  COUNTER-REFORMATION. 

ECCLESIASTICAL  PROBLEMS  IN  E^: GLAND,   1570-1680. 

THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  TEUTONS. 

CHRISTIANITY  AND  ISLAM. 

HILDEBRAND  AND  HIS  TIMES. 

THE  POPES  AND  THE  HOHENSTAUPEN. 

MONKS  AND  FRIARS. 

London:  LONGMANS,  GREEN  &  CO. 


NEW   YORK: 
ANSON    D.    F.     RANDOLPH    &    COMPANY, 

38  WEST  TWEN/T-THIRD   STREET. 


aJjjocJ).^   of  Cfiuccl)   I^iiaftorp 

EDITED  BY   THE 

BEV.  MANDELL  CREIGHTON,  M.A. 


THE 

UNIVERSITY    OF    OXFORD 


A    HISTOEY 


OF    THE 


UNIVERSITY    OF    OXFORD 


BY    THE 


HON.  a.  C.  BRODRICK",  D.C.L. 


WARDEN  OF  MEUjCON  COLLliGB 


-<;.' 


uir.i7EEsz: 


NEW  YORK: 
ANSON    D.    F.    RANDOLPH    &    COMPANY, 

38  WEST  TWKNTY-THIRD   STREET. 


4^ 


%<7tr 


PEErAOE. 


The  present  volume  is  an  attempt  to  present  in  a  sno- 
cinct  form  the  history  of  an  University  which,  however 
uncertain  its  origin,  is  among  the  oldest  institutions  in 
Europe.  The  result  of  such  a  task  must  needs  fall  very 
far  short  of  perfection,  and  it  is  probably  a  just  appre- 
ciation of  "its  difficulties  which  has  deterred  abler  his- 
torians from  undertaking  it.  The  voluminous  remains 
of  Anthony  Wood  contain  a  mine  of  precious  records, 
but  they  are  singularly  ill-arranged,  and  his  narrative 
breaks  off  long  before  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. The  great  monograph  of  Father  Denifle,  now  in 
course  of  publication,  on  the  early  history  of  European 
Universities,  promises  to  be  an  exhaustive  discussion  of 
its  subject ;  but  its  enormous  bulk  and  unwieldy  con- 
struction will  repel  most  English  readers,  while  it  deals 
only  with  the  rudimentary  development  of  academical 


▼i  Preface 

constitutions.  The  well-known  compilation  of  Huber 
shows  considerable  research  and  grasp  of  the  subject, 
but  it  follows  no  historical  order,  and  is  disfigured  by 
much  irrelevance  and  prejudice.  The  publications  of 
the  Oxford  Historical  Society  have  already  placed  docu- 
ments hitherto  scarcely  accessible  within  the  reach  of 
ordinary  students,  but  it  will  be  long  before  the  series 
can  be  completed.  All  these  works,  as  well  as  the 
valuable  '  Munimenta  Academica '  of  Mr.  Anstey,  Pro- 
fessor Burrows'  'Visitors'  Register,'  and  many  other 
treatises  of  less  note,  have  been  freely  consulted  by  me. 
I  have  also  made  use  of  the  Merton  College  Register, 
which  has  been  kept  with  few  interruptions  since  the 
year  1482,  and  of  other  MSS.  documents  in  the  posses- 
Bion  of  my  own  College.  But  I  have  not  thought  it  well 
to  encumber  the  pages  of  so  compendious  a  narrative 
with  constant  references  to  authorities.  My  principal 
aim  has  been  to  exhibit  the  various  features  and  incidents 
of  University  history,  age  by  age,  in  their  due  propor- 
tion ;  dwelling  more  upon  broad  and  undisputed  facts 
than  upon  comparatively  obscure  points  which  are  the 
natural  field  of  antiquarian  speculation  or  criticism. 
Guided  by  a  similar  principle,  I  have  not  treated  all 
periods  of  University  history  with  equal  detail.  Thus,  I 
have  devoted  a  large  share  of  space  to  the  period  of  the 


Preface  vu 

Civil  Wars,  during  whicli  the  University  played  a  great 
part  in  the  national  drama  ;  while  I  have  passed  lightly 
over  the  reign  of  George  III.,  when  the  University  had 
not  only  lost  all  political  importance,  but  had  forfeited 
its  reputation  as  a  place  of  the  highest  education  and 
learning.  In  the  selection  of  topics  from  so  vast  a  mass 
of  materials,  I  have  sought  to  preserve  the  continuity 
of  events,  so  far  as  possi)3le,  rather  than  to  produce  a 
series  of  essays  on  special  aspects  of  University  life.  I 
have  deviated,  however,  from  this  method  in  one  or 
two  instances,  such  as  the  chapter  on  Oxford  politics  in 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  that  on  the  Neo-Catholic 
Revival.  In  several  of  the  earlier  chapters,  and  in 
those  on  Oxford  in  the  present  century,  I  have 
borrowed  the  substance  of  passages  from  my  own 
volume, '  Memorials  of  Merton  College,'  and  from  articles 
on  recent  University  reforms  contributed  by  myself  to 
various  periodicals.  If  I  have  succeeded  in  bringing 
within  a  single  view  the  successive  phases  of  develop- 
ment through  which  the  University  has  passed  in  the 
course  of  seven  hundred  years,  and  in  paving  the  way 
for  a  more  comprehensive  and  detailed  history,  the 
object  of  this  little  volume  will  have  been  attained. 

George  C.  Bhodrick, 


CONTENTS. 


PAGB 

Fbefacb     ••«•••«#•••▼ 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE   RISE   OP    THE   UNIVERSITY. 

Mythical  origin  of  the  Qniversity — Early  Schools  of  Osford — 
Intellectual  revival  of  the  twelfth  century — Lectures  of 
Vacarius,  and  first  germs  of  the  University — Connection  of 
Oxford  with  the  University  of  Paris — Recognition  of  the 
scholars  by  the  Papal  Legate  after  the  riot  of  1209 — Ofiice 
of  Chancellor — University  chests,  and  soui'ces  of  revenue  in 
the  thirteenth  century — Rise  of  Halls — Early  University 
charters •••.! 

CHAPTER  IL 

THE   EARLY   COLLEGES. 

Kise  of  Colleges—  Foundation  of  University  and  Balliol — Foun- 
dation of  Merton  College — Merton  College,  Statutes  of,  1274 
— Social  position,  manners,  and  academical  life  of  early 
students — '  Chamber-dekyns ' — S  reet  brawls  and  disorders 
— Superiority  of  colleges  in  disc'pline  and  tuition         ,        ,     15 

CHAPTER  HL 

PROGRESS    OF   THE    UNIVERSITY   IN    THE 
FOURTEENTH    CENTURY. 

Europe  in  the  fourteenth  century — Social  condition  of  the  Uni- 
versity— Intellectual  vigour  of  the  University — Foundatioa 


Contents 

PAGE 

of  Exeler,  Oriel,  Queen's,  and  Canterbury  Colleges — Founda- 
tion of  New  College — European  influence  of  Oxford  in  the 
fourteenth  century —Else  of  Wyclif — Career  of  Wyclif — 
Feud  between  Northern  and  Southern  'nations' — Early 
secessions  to  Cambridge  and  Northampton — Secession  to 
Stamford  in  1333 — Growth  of  the  proctorial  authority — 
Concession  by  the  Pope  of  freedom  in  the  election  of  the 
Chancellor ,,,.27 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CONFLICTS   BETWEEN   THE   UNIVERSITY   AND   THE   CITY. 

Koyal  award  of  1290— Eiot  of  1297  and  agreement  of  1208— 
Great  riot  of  1354 — Interdict  and  penance — New  charter 
granted  by  the  King 43 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE   MONKS   AND   FRIARS   AT   OXFORD, 

OBenedictines  and  Augustinians — Rise  of  Mendicant  Orders — 
Claustral  schools — Migration  from  Paris  and  influence  of 
Robert  Grostete — Position  of  the  friars  at  Oxford,  and  Uni- 
versity statutes  against  them — Intervention  of  the  Pope  and 
the  King ,        ,        ,        ,        ,    48 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   UNIVERSITY   IN   THE    FIFTEENTH   CENTURY. 

Decline  in  numbers  and  studies — University  delegates  at  the 
Councils  of  Constance  and  Basle — Foundation  of  Lincoln 
and  All  Souls'  Colleges — Extension  of  University  buildings  ; 
the  Divinity  School  and  the  Bodleian  Library — Final 
organisation  of  medieval  lectures  and  examinations — Uni- 
versity curriculum — Statute  of  1431,  regulating  '  inception  ' 
— Duties  of  regent  masters — Residence  for  degrees  in  the 
higher  faculties 55 


Contents  txX 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    RENAISSANCE,    THE    REFORMATION,    AND 

THE    TUDOR    PERIOD. 

PAGB 

Revival  of  academical  life  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century 
— Checked  by  the  Reformation — Pen  >ers  of  tbe  new  learn- 
ing at  Oxford — Erasmus,  More,  Colet,  Grocyn,  and  Lin- 
acre — Foundation  of  Corpus  Christi  College  by  Bishop  Fox 
— Greeks  aud  Trojans — Cardinal  Wolsey  and  the  found  tion 
of  Christ  Cliurch — Action  of  the  University  on  the  questions 
of  the  Divorce  and  the  Royal  Supremacy — Compliance  of 
the  University  rewarded  by  royal  favour — The  first  effects 
of  the  Reformation  injurious  to  the  University — Iconoclastic 
Visitation  under  Edward  VI. — Leniency  towards  colleges — 
Reaction  under  Mary.  Martyrdom  of  Ridley,  Latimer,  and 
Cranmer — Visitation  and  reforms  of  Cardinal  Pole — Founda- 
tion of  Trinity  and  St.  John's  Colleges  .••,.68 

CHAPTER  yill. 

REIGN   OF   ELIZABETH    AND   CHANCELLORSHIP 
OP    LEICESTER. 

Visitation  under  Elizabeth  and  policy  of  Archbishop  Parker — 
Chancellorship  of  Leicester — Changes  in  the  government  of 
the  University — Leicester's  administration  of  the  University 
— Depression  of  intellectual  life  in  the  University — Encou- 
ragement of  study  by  Elizabeth,  and  foundation  of  the 
Bodleian  Library — Increasing  refinement  of  academical  life 
—  Queen  Elizabeth's  two  visits  to  Oxford— Pestilences  and 
disturbances  in  the  sixteenth  century    ,        «        ,        a        .     F7 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    UNIVERSITY   UNDER   JAMES   I. 

The  University  patronised  by  James  I. — James  I.'s  attitude 
towards  the  University  and  the  Church — Rise  and  influence 
of  Laud — Completion  of  the  •  Schools,'  and  foundation  of 
Wadham  and  Pembroke  Colleges  .,.,,,  100 


xii  Contents 

CHAPTEU  X. 

THE   UNIVERSITY   UNDER   CHARLES   I.    AND    LAUD. 

PAGE 

Parliament  at  Oxford — Chancellorship  of  Laud — Compilation  of 
Laudian  statutes — Main  provisions  of  the  Laudian  statutes 
— Studies  and  examinations  under  the  Laudian  statutes — 
Services  of  Laud  to  the  University — Last  five  years  of 
Laud's  chancellorship — Eminent  members  of  the  University 
in  the  generation  preceding  the  Civil  Wars — University  life 
in  the  generation  preceding  the  Civil  Wars   .        •        •        .  107 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   UNIVERSITY   DURING   THE    CIVIL    WARS   AND   THE 

SIEGE    OF    OXFORD. 

The  University  sides  with  the  King  and  the  Church — The  Com- 
mons issue  an  order  for  the  University — Contributions  for 
the  King's  service,  and  first  occupation  of  Oxford  by  Parlia- 
mentaiy  troops — Oxford  becomes  the  royal  head-quarters — 
Aspect  of  the  University  during  the  Queen's  residence — The 
last  two  years  of  the  civil  war — Siege  of  Oxford,  and  pro- 
posals of  Fairfax  guaranteeing  University  privileges — Sur- 
render of  Oxford,  and  subsequent  condition  of  the  Uni- 
versity            »        •        •  122 

CHAPTER  Xn. 

THE    PARLIAMENTARY   VISITATION  AND   THE 
COMMONWEALTH. 

Measures  preparatory  to  the  Visitation — Appointment  of  the 
Visitors  and  the  Standing  Committee  of  Parliament — Early 
proceedings  of  the  Visitors,  and  suppression  of  resistance 
from  the  University — Visitation  of  colleges.  Submissions 
and  expulsions — Eeception  of  Fairfax  and  Cromw^ell — 
Second  Board  of  Visitors — Third  Board  of  Visitors,  and  con- 
clusion of  the  Visitation — State  of  the  University  on  the 
recovery  of  its  independence 138 


Contents  xiii 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE    PERIOD    BETWEEN    THE    RESTORATION   AND 
THE    REVOLUTION. 

PAQB 

The  Restoration  and  new  Visitation  of  the  University — Exten- 
sion of  University  buildings.  Sheldouian  Theatre — Growth 
of  Eesthetic  tastes  and  social  refinement — First  visit  of 
Ci^arles  II. — Second  visit  of  Charles  II.  Parliament  as- 
sembled and  dissolved  at  Oxford— Doctrine  of  passive  resis- 
tance adopted  by  the  University.  Expulsion  of  Locke  — 
Conduct  of  the  University  on  the  outbreak  of  IMonmouth's 
rebellion.     James  II.'s  treatment  of  Magdalen  College     .  151 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

UNIVERSITY    POLITICS    BETWEEN    THE    REVOLUTION 
AND    THE    ACCESSION    OF    GEORGE    IIL 

Attitude  of  the  University  towards  the  Revolution.  Visit  of 
William  III. — Origin  of  Oxford  Jacobitism.  Visit  of  Queen 
Anne  —  Popularity  of  Sacheverell.  Position  of  the  Whig 
minority — Jacobite  demonstrations.  A  troop  of  horse  sent 
to  Oxford— The  Constitution  Club.  Government  scheme  for 
reforming  the  University — Gradual  decline  of  Jacobitism 
in  Oxford  during  the  reign  of  George  II. — Revival  of  lo}  alty 
after  the  accession  of  George  III.     His  visits  to  Oxford     .  162 


CHAPTER  XV. 

UNIVERSITY   STUDIES    IN   THE    EIGHTEENTH    CENTURY. 

Decay  of  University  education  in  the  eighteenth  century — Con- 
temporary evidence — Decline  in  numbers  and  dearth  of 
eminence  in  science  and  literature— Counter-evidence  show- 
ing that  education  and  learning  were  not  wholly  neglecie'l  174 


xiv  Contents 


CHAPTER    XVI.  I 

i 

THE   UNIVERSITY    DURING   THE    REIGNS    OP   GEORGE    III. 

AND    GEORGE   IV.  \ 

PAGB  \ 

Stagnation  of  University  legislation  in  the  eighteenth  century  j 

—Statutes  affecting  the  University — Political  sympathies  of 
the  University  after- the  outbreak  of  the  French  Eevolution  , 

—  Accessions  to  professoriate  in  the  eighteenth  century — 
Architectural  improvements— Effects  of  the  French  war 
upon  the  University.     Opposition  to  reforms — Reception  of  i 

the  Allied  Sovereigns.     Abolition  of  the  Mayor's  Oath.        .  183 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

OXFORD    STUDIES   AND   EXAMINATIONS   IN   THE 
NINETEENTH    CENTURY. 

Examination  statute  of  1800,  and  later  amendments — Examina- 
tion statute  of  1850,  and  later  amendments— University 
Commission  of  1850— Act  of  1851  and  new  College  Ordi- 
nances—Effect of  these  reforms — Abolition  of  University 
tests — Local  examinations,  and  board  for  examination  of 
public  schools— Commission  of  inquiry  j^l 872)  and  Act  of 
1876 — Commission  of  1877 — Character  of  last  reforms  ^      .  191 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE   NEO-CATHOLIC   REVIVAL,    KNOWN  AS   THE    *  OXFORD 

MOVEMENT.' 

Character  of  the  ♦  Oxford  Movement  '—A  reaction  against  the 
rising  tide  of  Liberalism — Oriel  the  centre  of  the  Movement 
— John  Henry  Newman — Origin  of  'Tracts  for  the  Times  ' — 
Association  formed — Newman  assumes  the  lead — Spread 
and  objects  of  the  movement.  Publication  of  Tract  XC. — 
Collapse  of  Tractarianism,  and  secession  of  Newman — 'J  he 
'  Hampden   Controversy ' — Proceedings  against  Pusey  and 


Contents  xv 

PA  as 
Ward — Effect  of  the  'Oxford  Movement' — Controversy  on 
the  endowment  of  the  Greek'  Professorship.     Defeat  of  Mr. 
Gladstone  in  1865 204 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE   UNIVERSITY    IN    1886. 

jReign  of  Queen  Victoria— State  of  the  University  on  the 
Queen's  accession — Influence  of  recent  changes — Present 
character  of  the  University    .        .        •        •        •        •        .217 

INDEX ••«••.  223 


^ 


jCa^^^..^ 


^.  CO 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OE  OXFOED. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   RISE   OF   THE    UNIVEESITY. 

The  University  of  Oxford  lias  long  ceased  to  claim  the 
fabulous  antiquity  for  which  its  mediaeval  champions  had 
Mythical  contended,  as  for  an  article  of  faith,  and  which 
uS?:=ity^  found  credit  with  so  conscientious  an  historian 
as  Anthony  Wood.  It  is  now  admitted  that  nothing 
is  certainly  known  of  its  origin,  and  that  its  alleged 
foundation  by  Alfred  the  Great  rests  upon  a  tradition 
which  cannot  be  traced  back  to  a  period  beyond  the 
fourteenth  century.  There  is  no  evidence  whatever  to 
show  that  any  germ  of  a  University,  much  less  that  any 
college,  existed  at  Oxford  in  the  reign  of  AlfreJ,  who 
was  born  in  the  neighbouring  town  of  Wantage.  The 
very  contrary  may  reasonably  be  inferred  from  the 
negative  fact  that  Asser,  in  his  contemporary  biography 
of  Alfred,  makes  no  allasion  to  his  supposed  institution 
of  '  schools '  at  Oxford,  though  he  amply  attests  his 
paternal  zeal  for  English  education.  The  early  chroniclers 
are,  without  exception,  equally  silent  on  the  subject, 
which  is  noticed  by  no  extant  writer  before  the  age  of 

B 


2  The  University  of  Oxford 

Edward  III.  In  the  next  reign,  tlie  primary  mytli — 
for  so  we  must  regard  it — was  developed  into  a  secondary 
niytli,  attributing  to  Alfred  the  foundation  of  University 
College,  and  this  imaginary  pretension  was  actualh'' 
advanced  by  that  college  in  the  course  of  a  lawsuit. 
Meanwhile,  the  simpler  tradition  of  Alfred's  connection 
with  the  University  Schools  was  repeated  by  author 
after  author  in  days  when  the  very  nature  of  historical 
proof  was  unknown,  and  v/as  reinforced  in  the  sixteenth 
century  by  the  insertion  of  a  spurious  passage  into  the 
work  of  Asser.  It  has  been  reserved  for  the  present 
century  to  recognise  the  plain  truth  that  we  are  entirely 
ignorant  of  the  first  stage  in  the  growth  of  the  Univer- 
sity, and  that  its  name  is  never  mentioned  in  history 
before  the  Norman  Conquest. 

The  silence  of  Domesday  Book  respecting  the  Uni- 
versity of  Oxford  must  be  taken  as  presumptive,  though 
Early  by  p.o  meaus  conclusive,  proof  that  it  had  no 

Oxford  corporate  existence  at  that  date.    Much  learn- 

ing has  been  spent  in  speculations  on  its  origin  and 
primitive  constitution,  but  these  speculations  have  little 
support  in  any  facts  historically  known  to  us  before  the 
Norman  Conquest.  It  is  more  than  probable,  however, 
that  Oxford  was  already  a  resort  of  students  and  a  place 
of  education.  Having  been  a  residence  of  Edmund 
Ironside,  Canute,  and  Harold  I.,  as  well  as  the  seat  of 
several  National  Councils,  it  was  now  recognised  as  a 
provincial  capital  by  the  erection  of  its  castle,  embracing 
within  it  the  Collegiate  Church  of  St.  George  ;  while  the 
number  of  its  monastic  establishments  would  naturally 
attract  poor  scholars  from  all  parts  of  England.  The 
earliest    schools,  not  in  England  only  but  throughout 


The  Rise  of  the  University  3 

Europe,  were  attaclied  to  monasteries  or  cathedrals;  and, 
in  the  absence  of  any  contrary  evidence,  analogy  almost 
compels  us  to  regard  the  Church  as  the  foster-mother 
of  the  University.  In  the  '  claustral '  schools  of  St. 
Frideswide,  and  the  houses  in  Oxford  belonging  to 
abbeys,  such  as  those  of  Abingdon  and  Eynsham,  we 
may  discern  the  original  seminaries  of  academical  teach- 
inof — the  first  rudiments  of  the  Studium  Generate,  after- 
wards  developed  into  the  Universitas  Literaria.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  certain  that,  side  by  side  with  these 
claustral  schools,  secular  or  lay  schools  were  gi-adually 
opened — some  boarding-schools,  mainly  designed  for  the 
reception  of  boys  from  the  country,  others  mere  class- 
rooms frequented  by  the  students  who  lodged  either  in 
private  dwellings  or  in  public  hostels.  It  appears  thafc 
before  lon^'  the  secular  outnumbered  the  claustral 
schools,  and  became  centred  in  a  particular  quarter  of 
the  citv,  stretchino"  northward  from  the  west  end  of  St. 
Mary's  Church,  afterwards  known  as  School  Street,  and 
said  to  have  existed  in  the  year  1109.  We  may  surmise 
v4th  some  confidence  that  in  the  infancy  of  the  Univer- 
sity its  lecturers  were  almost  exclusively  clerks,  but  too 
often  scholastic  adventurers  of  mean  attainments,  whose 
lessons  rose  little  above  the  barest  elements  of  know- 
ledge. But  all  theories  of  its  rudimentary  organisation 
are  purely  conjectural.  '  The  Schools  of  Oxford  '  first 
emerge  into  history  in  the  next  century,  when  they 
really  attained  a  national  celebrity,  soon  eclipsing  those 
of  Canterbury,  Winchester,  Peterborough,  and  others, 
which  mav  have  rivalled  them  in  earlier  times. 

The  twelfth  century,  the  golden  age  of  feudalism  and 
the  Crusades,  was  also  marked  by  a  .notable  movement 

B  2 


4  The  University  of  Oxford 

of  thouglit  and  revival  of  speculative  activity.  The 
culture  and  science  wtiicli  had  long  found  a  home  at 
Intellectual  Cordova  uow  began  to  diffuse  themselves  over 
turrwem  Western  Europe,  and  the  works  of  Avicenna 
century  introduced  a  curious  relish  for  Aristotle's 
*  Natural  Philosophy,'  which  veiled  itself  in  m3rsticism  to 
escape  ecclesiastical  censure.  The  old  scholastic  Trivium 
of  grammar,  logic,  and  rhetoric,  with  the  mathemati- 
cal Qiiadrhnum,  comprising  arithmetic,  geometry,  as- 
tronomy, and  music,  still  constituted  the  magic  circle 
of  '  Arts  '  in  the  mediaeval  sense.  But  the  '  sciences,' 
as  they  were  then  called,  of  physics,  E-oman  law,  and 
systematic  theology,  if  not  medicine,  were  now  claiming 
a  place  in  the  curriculum  of  education ;  and  valuable 
histories,  in  the  form  of  chronicles,  were  compiled  in 
several  Eno-lish  monasteries.  That  ao^e  cannot  be  called 
intellectually  barren  which  produced  Lanfranc,  Anselm, 
Abelard,  Bernard,  Peter  the  Lombard,  Averroes,  Gratian, 
and  Maimonides.  The  University  of  Bologna,  with  its 
School  of  Law,  opened  by  Irnerius  under  imperial  patron- 
age, was  among  the  first  fruits  of  this  mediaeval  renais- 
sance. The  cultivation  of  Roman  jurisprudence  is 
usually  dated  from  the  discovery  of  a  copy  of  the 
Pandects  at  the  capture  of  Amalfi  in  1135,  but  it  cannot 
have  been  wholly  unknown  at  an  earlier  period,  since 
the  religious  orders  had  been  forbidden  by  a  Papal 
mandate  to  study  it.  The  lectures  of  Irrerius,  however, 
apparently  preceding  the  capture  of  Amalfi,  methodised 
aud  popularised  the  new  learning,  which  spread  rapidly 
through  Western  Europe. 

There  is  historical  evidence  of  Vacarius,  a  professor 
from  Bologna,  having  commenced  lectures  in  civil  law 


The  Rise  of  the  University  5 

at  Oxford,  under  the  patronage  of  Arcliblshop  Theobald, 
about  1149,  in  the  reign  of  Stephen,  by  whom  they 
Lectures  of  Were  prohibited  for  a  while  at  the  instance  of 
aiui'iirsfc'  teachers  interested  in  philosophy  and  theology. 
Uuiyersity  This  IS  the  earliest  well-ascertained  event 
in  the  academical  life  of  Oxford,  but  it  may  safely  be 
inferred  that  if  Yacarius  came  from  Italy  to  lecture  in 
the  schools  of  Oxford,  those  schools  had  already  attained 
something  like  a  European  reputation,  and  were  fitted 
to  become  the  germ  of  an  University.^  We  have  the 
positive  testimony  of  John  of  Salisbury,  who  had  studied 
at  Paris,  that  Oxford,  just  before  the  accession  of 
Henry  II,,  was  engrossed  by  logical  controversies  about 
the  nature  of  Universals.  Yet  this  concourse  of  eaeer 
students  apparently  possessed  no  chartered  rights. 
There  is  no  sufficient  ground  for  the  assertion  that 
Henry  I.  was  educated  at  Oxford,  and  granted  some 
important  privileges  to  the  so-called  '  University; '  but  we 
know  that  he  li\ed  much  both  at  Oxford  and  at  Wood- 
stock, that  he  built  the  palace  of  Beaumont  on  the  north 
of  the  city,  and  that  he  demised  to  its  corporation  the  fee 
*arm  of  the  city  for  the  annual  rent  of  sixty-three  pounds. 
!tv  or  can  it  be  proved,  as  it  has  been  alleged,  that,  having 
sunk  again  to  a  low  ebb  under  Stephen  and  Henry  II., 
it  was  revived  by  the  judicious  patronage  of  Richard  I,, 
himself  born  at  Beaumont.  On  the  other  hand,  startincr 
from  the  fact  that  the  Oxford  schools  attracted  a  pro- 
fessor from  Italy  in  the  reign  of  Stephen,  we  are  justified 

'  It  is  perhaps  needless  to  observe  that,  '  universitas '  signifies  a 
*  corporation  '  or  guild,  and  implies  no  universality  in  the  range  of 
suVjjects  taught,  or  Universitas  Facultatuni.  •  Stadium  Generale  ' 
probably  signifies  a  place  of  education  open  to  all  comers. 


6  The  University  of  Oxford 

in  believing  that  tlie^^  could  scarcely  liave  escaped  the 
notice  of  Henry  I.,  who  earned  a  name  for  scholarship 
in  that  unlettered  era,  and  is  said  to  have  '  pleased  him- 
self much  with  the  conversation  of  clerks;'  or  of  Stephen, 
who  twice  held  Councils  at  Oxford;  or  of  Henry  II., 
who,  like  his  grandfather,  constantly  resided  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood.  Without  the  encouragement 
of  the  Crown  as  well  as  of  the  Church,  they  could  not 
have  attained  the  position  which  they  clearly  occupied 
before  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century.  By  this  time 
Oseney  Abbey  had  been  founded,  and  had  annexed  the 
church  of  St.  George  within  the  Castle.  Both  of  these 
religious  houses  served  as  lodgings  for  young  scholars, 
who  contributed  to  swell  the  number  of  Oxford  students. 
It  is  true  that  w^e  have  no  trace  of  academical  endow- 
ments, or  of  royal  charters  recognising  the  Oxford 
schools,  in  the  twelfth  century.  But  we  are  informed 
on  good  authority  that  Robert  Fallen  (or  Pulleyne), 
author  of  the  Sententiarum  Libri  Odo^  and  for  some 
years  a  student  at  Paris,  delivered  regular  courses  of 
lectures  on  the  Scriptures  at  Oxford  some  years  before 
the  visit  of  Vacarius.  More  than  a  generation  later,  in 
the  year  ll&G  or  1187,  Giraldus  Cambrensis,  having 
been  despatched  to  Ireland  by  Henry  II.  as  companion 
of  Prince  John,  publicly  read  at  Oxford  his  work  on  the 
Topography  of  Ireland.  According  to  his  own  account, 
^  not  willing  to  hide  his  candle  under  a  bushel,  but  to 
place  it  on  a  candlestick,  that  it  might  give  light  to  all, 
he  resolved  to  read  it  publicly  at  Oxford,  where  the  most 
learned  and  famous  of  the  English  clergy  were  at  that 
time  to  be  found.'  These  recitations  lasted  three  suc- 
cessive daySj  and  the  lecturer  has  left  it  on  record  that 


The  Rise  of  the  University  7 

he  feasted  not  only  '  all  tlie  doctors  of  the  different 
faculties  and  such  of  their  pu^Dils  as  were  of  fame  and 
note,'  but  '  the  rest  of  the  scholars,'  with  many  burgesses 
and  even  the  poor  of  the  city.  Whether  or  not  the 
schools  thus  frequented  at  Oxford  were  mainly  founded 
by  the  Benedictines,  as  has  been  maintained,  and 
whether  or  not  they  were  mainly  conducted  by  teachers 
from  Paris,  they  assuredly  existed,  and  constituted  an 
University  in  all  but  the  name. 

It  is  no  longer  doubtful  that,  in  their  earliest  stpge, 
the  schools  of  Oxford  owed  much  to  those  of  Paris,  then 
oomiection  ill  a  far  more  advanced  state  of  development, 
witiftL?  though  not  formally  incorporated  into  an 
S°plrif  *^  '  University '  until  early  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. William  of  Champeaux  had  opened  a  school  of 
logic  at  Paris  so  far  back  £S  1.109.  His  pupil,  Abe- 
lard,  followed  him;  and  the  fame  of  Abelard  himself 
was  far  surpassed  by  that  of  Peter  Lombard,  whose 
text- book  of  'Sentences'  became  the  i^hilosophical 
Bible  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Students  flocked  in  from 
all  parts  of  Europe  ;  lectures  multiplied,  not  only  in  ono 
faculty,  as  at  Bologna  or  Salerno,  but  in  every  branoii 
of  medieval  study,  especially  in  those  comprised  under 
•  Arts ; '  a  system  of  exercises,  degrees,  academical  dis- 
cipline, and  even  college  life,  was  gradually  matured  ; 
and  when  Philip  Augustus  gave  the  new  academical 
gaild  his  royal  approval,  it  was  already  in  a  condition 
of  vigorous  activity.  In  this  sense,  the  growth  of  the 
University  of  Paris  was  spontaneous.  Like  that  of 
Oxford,  it  was  originally  nothing  but  an  association  ot 
teachers  united  by  mutual  interest ;  but,  like  all 
.  mediaeval     institutions,    it    grew    up    under    Church 


8  The  University  of  Oxford 

autliority.     It  liad  originally  sprung  from  tlie  catlierlrnl 
school  of  Notre-Dame  ;  tlie  ecclesiastical  chancellor  of 
Paris  claimed  a  paramount  jurisdiction  over  it,  which, 
however,  was  constantly  resisted  by  the  University,  not 
without  support  from  the  Court  of  Kome ;    and  the 
validity  of  its  highest  degrees  was  derived  from  the 
sanction  of  the  Pope  himself.     Considering  the  links 
which  bound  England  to  France,   through  Normandy 
and  her  other  French  provinces,  as  well  as  the  intellec- 
tual ascendency  of  Paris  over  Western  Europe,  it  is 
natural  that  Oxford  should  have  borrowed  manv  features 
•of  her  internal  reg'ulations  from  this  source,  though  it 
-cannot  be  affirmed  with  certainty  that  she  did  so.     The 
presumption  is  strongly  confirmed  by  the  undoubted 
fact    that  the    '  English  nation  '  was  one  of  the  four 
'  nations '  into  whicb  the  students  of  Paris  were  divided, 
the  Normans  forming  another  distinct  nation  by  them- 
selves.    Leland  tells   us  that  young  Englishmen  who 
then  aspired  to  a  high  education  got  their  schooling,  as 
we  should  call  it,  at  Oxford,  but  their  college  training 
■at  Paris,  and  Anthony  Wood  gives  a  list  of  eminent 
Oxonians   who    had   studied    at  Paris,    including   the 
names  of  Giraldus  Cambrensis,  Robert  Pulleyne,  Robert 
Grosteste,  Roger   Bacon,    and  Stephen  Langton.       If 
this  be  so,  it  was  inevitable  that,  on  their  return,  they 
-should  brinq-  home  with  them  ideas  based  on  their  ex- 
perience  of  Paris,  which  might  thus  gradually  become 
a  model  of  academical  organisation  for  Oxford.     In  the 
year  1229^  a  fresh  link  of  connection  ^vith  the  great 
French  University  was  created  by  a  large  immigration 
of  Parisian   students.       The  immediate   cause  of  this 
immigration  was  an  outbreak  ofhostility  between  tho. 


The  Rise  of  the  University  g 

scliolars  and  citizens  of  Paris,  like  those  wliicL  so  con- 
stantly recurred  between  the  same  parties  at  Oxford. 
Henry  III.  had  the  foresight  to  seize  this  opportunity 
of  reinforcing  his  own  University,  and  among  the  many 
students  who  came  from  Paris  to  Oxford  on  his  invita- 
tion were  several  of  his  own  subjects  who  had  gone 
abroad  for  their  education. 

At  all  events,  at  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  we  find  at  Oxford  an  academical  body  sin- 
gularly like  that  long  established  at  Paris,  and  exhi- 
biting almost  equal  vitality.  In  one  respect,  indeed. 
Recognition  its  positiou  was  Still  more  independent ;  for, 
scliolars  by  whcrcas  at  Paris  the  University  was  over- 
LoEcateafter  shadowcd  bv  a  Royal  Court  with  all  the  great 

the  riot  of  .        .         .  ^ 

3209  dio-nitaries  of  the  French  Church  and  State, 

at  Oxford  the  University  authorities  had  no  competitors 
but  the  corporation  of  the  city.  Moreover,  while  at 
Paris  there  was  a  resident  chancellor  of  Notre-Dame, 
ever  ready  to  assert  his  authority,  there  was  no  episco- 
pal see  of  Oxford ;  the  diocesan  lived  at  a  safe  distance, 
and  the  archdeacon  was  the  highest  resident  func- 
tionary of  the  Church.  About  the  beginning  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  Edmund  Rich,  afterwards  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  and  Robert  Grosteste,  afterwards 
bishop  of  Lincoln,  became  pioneers  of  Aristotelian  study 
in  Oxford,  and  were  among  the  earliest  graduates  in 
divinity,  a  faculty  then  in  its  infancy.  In  the  year 
1214  we  come  upon  more  solid  p-round  in  a  documentarv 
record  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  University.  This 
record,  in  the  shape  of  a  letter  from  the  Papal  Legate, 
refers  to  an  important  incident  which  had  occurred  five 
years  before,  in  1209,  when  three  students  had  been 


C 


10  The  University  of  Oxford 

seized  and  Iianged  by  a  mob  of  townspeople,  witb  tlie 
mayor  and  burgesses  at  their  head,  in  revenge  for  the 
death  of  a  woman  accidentally  killed  by  another  student. 
In  consequence  of  this  outrage,  said  to  have  been  coun- 
tenanced by  King  John,  the  city  was  laid  under  an 
interdict  by  the  Pope,  who  issued  a  prohibition  against 
lecturing  in  Oxford,  and  the  great  body  of  students 
migrated  to  Cambridge,  Eeading,  or  elsewhere.  The 
letter  of  the  Papal  Legate,  reciting  the  submission  of 
the  burgesses  to  his  authority,  and  his  disposition  to 
deal  mercifully  with  them,  proceeds  to  impose  upon 
them  certain  penalties.  One  of  these  is  the  remission 
of  half  the  fixed  rent  paj^able  for  halls  tenanted  by 
scholars,  for  a  period  of  ten  years.  Another  is  the  pay- 
ment of  fifty-two  shillings  yearly  for  the  support  of  poor 
scholars,  and  the  obligation  to  feast  one  hundred  poor 
scholars  every  year  on  St.  Nicholas's  Day.  They  are 
also  to  swear  that,  in  future,  they  will  furnish  the 
scholars  with  provisions  at  a  just  and  reason ahle  price ; 
and  that  if  they  shall  arrest  a  clerk  they  shall  deliver 
him  up,  upon  due  requisition  from  the  bishop  of  Lin- 
coln or  the  archdeacon  of  Oxford,  or  his  ofiicial,  or  the 
chancellor,  or  '  him  whom  the  bishop  of  Lincoln  shall 
have  deputed  to  this  office.'  This  oath  is  to  be  repeated 
yearly.  All  masters  who  continued  to  lecture  after  the 
retirement  of  scholars  under  Papal  mandate  are  to  be 
suspended  from  lecturing  for  three  years.  All  towns- 
men convicted  of  participation  in  the  original  crime  are 
to  come,  without  shoes,  hats,  or  cloaks,  to  the  graves  of 
the  murdered  '  clerks,'  and  are  to  give  their  ^wdies 
proper  burial  in  a  place  to  be  solemnly  chosen.  Upon 
any  default  in  the  fulfilment  of  these  conditions,  the 


The  Rise  of  the  University  ii 

former   sentence  of  excommunication  is  again   to    be 
enforced  by  the  bisLop  of  Lincoln. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  in  this  memorable  docu- 
ment there  is  no  mention  of  an  ^  University.'   The  mem- 
uince  of        ^^^^  °^  *^®  academical   fraternity  are  called 
ehaueeiior      simply     '  clerks '    or    '  scholars    studying    at 
Oxford.'     It  may  further  be  inferred  from  the  expres- 
sions respecting  the  chancellor,  that  no  chancellor  of 
the    University   existed    distinct    from    the    chancellor 
of  the  diocese,  or,  at  least,  that,  if  he  existed,  he  was 
a   nominee  of  the   bishop   of   Lincoln.     On  the  other 
hand,  the  scholars  are  recognised  throughout  as  under 
the    special    protection   of  the    Papal  See,    as  well    as 
under    special  jurisdiction    of  the   bishop  of   Lincoln, 
afterwards  to  become  ex  officio  Visitor  of  the  Univer- 
sitj.     It  seems  to  follow  that,  while  the  University, 
as  a  corporation,  was  not  yet  fully  constituted,  such  a 
corporation    already  existed  in  an  inchoate  state,  and 
the  schools  of  Oxford  enjoyed  a  privileged  status  at  the 
supreme  court  of  Y/estern  Christendom.     When  they 
first  became,  in  the  legal  sense,  an  '  LTniversity '  under 
a  chancellor  of  their  own,  is  still  a  disputed  question, 
though  a  seal  has  been  engraved,   supposed  to  be  of 
about  the  year  1200,  which  bears  the  inscription,  '  Si- 
gillum   Oancellarii   et  Universitatis    Oxoniensis.'     Much 
learning  has  been  expended  on  the  origin  of  the  chan- 
cellorship, and  it  will  probably  never  be  determined  with 
certainty  whether  the  earliest  chancellors  derived  tlieir 
authority  exclusively  from    the    bishop  of  Lincoln    as 
diocesan,  or   were  in  the  nature  of  elective  rectors  of 
the  schools   (Rector es  Scholarum),  whose   election  was 
confirmed  by  the  bishop  of  Lincoln.     What  is  certain 


12  The  University  of  Oxford 

is  til  at  the  acting  liead  of  the  University  was  always 
entitled  Cancellarms  rather  than  Rector  Scholarum,  that 
from  the  beginning  of  Henry  III.'s  reign  he  is  fre- 
quently mentioned  under  this  official  title,  especially  in 
the  important  charters  of  1244  and  1255,  and  that  by 
the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  he  was  treated  as 
an  independent  representative  of  the  Universit}^  while 
the  official  deputy  of  the  bishop  at  the  University  was 
not  the  chancellor  but  the  archdeacon  of  Oxford.  At 
this  period,  then,  we  may  regard  the  University  as  fully 
constituted,  and  the  official  list  of  chancellors  begins  in 
the  year  1220,  when  three  persons  are  mentioned  as 
having  filled  the  office,  the  last  of  whom  is  Eobert 
Grosteste,  afterwards  the  celebrated  reforming  bishop 
of  Lincoln.  From  this  epoch  we  may  safely  date  the 
election  of  the  chancellor  by  Convocation,  though  it 
long  continued  to  be  subject  to  confi^rmation  by  the 
diocesan.  A  century  later  (1322)  the  election  was 
made  biennial. 

In  the  year  1219  the  abbot  and  Convent  of  Eyns- 
)iam  took  upon  themselves  the  obligations  laid  upon 
•gniversity  the  burgesscs  in  1214,  so  far  as  regarded  the 
soiu-ce's^o"'^  double  provision  for  poor  scholars.  This  agree- 
thrthir-^"  ment  was  carried  out,  yet  the  burgesses  are 
tury^^^S^e  Still  treated  as  liable  in  an  ordinance  issued, 
01  Halls  .^  -^240,  by  Robert  Grosteste,  then  bishop  of 
Lincoln,  which  provides  for  the  regular  application  of 
the  fund  to  its  original  purpose.  This  ordinance  marks 
an  important  epoch  in  the  growth  of  the  University. 
The  *  Frideswyde  Chest,'  and  other  chests  formed  on  a 
like  principle  by  successive  benefactions  for  the  relief  of 
poor  scholars,  appear  to  have  been  the  earliest  form  of 


The  Rise  of  the  University  13 

corporate  property  held  by  the  University.     They  con- 
tiuued  to  multiply  up  to  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, when  they  had  reached  the  number  of  twenty-four 
at  least,  and  are  computed  to  have  contained  an  aggre- 
gate sum  of  2,000  marks,   all  of  which  might  be  in 
circulation  on  loan  at  the  same  time.^     It  is  very  difficult 
to  ascertain  what  other  sources  of  revenue  the  University 
may  have  possessed  in  the  first  stage  of  its  exis*:ence. 
In  the  next  stage,  its  income  seems  to  have  been  largely 
derived  from  academical  fines  and  fees  on  graces,  as  wel 
as   from   duties   paid   by   masters   keeping   grammar 
schools  and  principals  of  haUs,  into  which  the  primitive 
boardinof-schools   were   first   transforming   themselve& 
It    is  clear    that,    at    this    period,  the    great  mass  cf 
students,  not  being  inmates  of  religious  houses,  were 
lodged  and  boarded  in  the^e  unendowed  halls,  mostly 
hired  from  the  citizens  by  clerks,  who  in  some  cases 
were  not  even  graduates,  but  were  regularly  licensed 
by  the  chancellor  or  his  commissary  on  September  9, 
and  were  subject  to  fixed  rules  of  discipline  laid  down 
from  time  to  time  by  the  governing  body  of  the  Uni- 
versity.    How  many  of  them  may  have  been  open  in 
the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century  is  a  question  which 
cannot  be  answered.     About  seventy  are  specified  by 
name  in  a  list  compiled  nearly  two  centuries  later,  but  we 
have  no  means  of  knowing  how  many  ancient  halls  may 
have  then  become  extinct',  or  how  many  new  halls  may 
have  been  founded.     The  evidence  now  in  our  possession 
does  not  enable  us  to  identify  more  than  about  eighty 

•  See  the  Introduction  to  Anstey's  Mutiimenta  Academical  pp. 
XXXV.  et  sqq. 


14  The  University  of  Oxford 

as  having  ever  existed,  and  it  is  certain  tliat  all  these 
did  not  exist  at  any  one  time.  Even  if  we  suppose  that 
several  hundred  students  were  housed  in  monastic 
buildings  during  the  age  preceding  the  foundation  of 
colleges,  and  make  a  large  allowance  for  those  in  private 
lodging-houses,  we  cannot  estimate  the  whole  number 
of  University  scholars  at  more  than  2,000,  or  at  the 
most  3,000.  The  loose  statement  of  Richard  of  Armagh, 
so  lightly  repeated  by  Anthony  Wood  and  others,  that 
some  30,000  scholars  were  collected  at  Oxford  in  this 
age,  not  only  rests  upon  no  sure  historical  ground,  but 
is  utterly  inconsistent  with  all  that  we  know  of  the 
area  covered  by  the  city,  and  of  the  position  occupied 
by  the  academical  population. 

It  is  well  known  that  Henry  III.  frequently  visited 
Oxford  for  the  purpose  of  holding  councils  or  otherwise, 
Early  and  his  relations  with  the    University   were 

University 

charters  coustant.  Amougst  the  letters  and  charters 
issued  by  him  in  regard  to  University  affairs  three  are 
specially  notable.  One  of  these  letters,  dated  1238, 
was  addressed  to  the  mayor  and  burghers,  directing 
them  to  inquire  into  the  circumstances  of  a  riot  at 
Oseney  Abbey  between  the  servants  of  Otho,  the  Papal 
Legate,  and  a  body  of  disorderly  students.  This  riot 
led  to  a  struggle,  lasting  a  whole  year,  between  the 
Legate  and  the  Universit}^,  supported  by  the  English 
bishops,  and  especially  by  Robert  Grosteste.  The  Legate 
was  ultimately  appeased  by  the  public  submission  of 
the  University  representatives  in  London  to  his  autho- 
rity, whereupon  he  withdrew  the  interdict  which  he  had 
laid  upon  the  Oxford  clerks,  some  of  whom  had  retired 
to  Northampton,  and  others,  it  is   said,  to  Salisbury, 


The  Rise  of  the  University  15 

Meanwliilo  tlie  couflicts  between  tlie  students  and 
townspeople  were  incessant.  In  1244,  after  a  violent 
attack  of  gownsmen  on  the  Jewry,  the  chancellor  of 
the  University  was  given  by  a  royal  writ  exclusive 
cognisance  of  all  pleas  arising  out  of  contracts  relating 
to  personalty,  and  in  1248  the  'mayor's  oath'  of 
fidelity  to  the  privileges  of  the  University  was  imposed 
by  letters  patent.  By  a  similar  charter,  granted  in 
1255  to  the  city  of  Oxford,  these  privileges  are  inci- 
denLally  confirmed,  for  it  is  there  provided  that  if  a 
'  clerk  '  shall  injure  a  townsman  he  shall  be  imprisoned 
until  the  chancellor  shall  claim  him,  while,  if  a  to^vns- 
man  shall  injure  a  clerk,  he  shall  be  imprisoned  until 
he  make  satisfaction  according  to  the  judgment  of  the 
chancellor.  Two  years  later  (in  1257)  the  liberties 
of  the  University  were  defended  against  the  bishop  of 
Lincoln  himself  before  the  king  at  St.  Albans,  on  the 
gi'ound  that  Oxford  was,  after  Paris,  '  scJiola  SGCunda 
ecclesice,* 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  EARLY  COLLEGES. 


By  far  the  most  important  event  in  the  academical 
history  of  the  thirteenth  centurj'-  was  the  foundation  of 
Rise  of  University,  Balliol,  and  Merton  Colleges.  The 
Co  leges  j(3grj.  of  Fecular  colleges,  it  is  true,  was  not 
wholly  new.  Harold's  foundation  at  Waltham,  afterwards 
converted  into  an  abbey,  was  originally  non-monastic, 
and   designed  to  be   a  home  for    secular   priests,    but 


1 6  The  Ua'IVersity  of  Oxford 

it  was  not  an  educational  institution.  There  were 
colleges  for  tlie  maintenance  of  poor  scholars  at  Bo- 
log  ua  ;  rather,  however,  in  the  nature  of  the  Oxford 
halls.  If  the  founders  of  the  earliest  Oxford  college 
were  indebted  for  their  inspiration  to  any  foreign 
source,  they  must  have  derived  it  from  the  great  French 
University  in  Paris,  of  which  the  collegiate  system 
already  formed  a  distinctive  feature.  Not  to  speak  of 
still  more  ancient  colleges  at  Paris,  either  attached  to 
monasteries  or  serving  the  purpose  of  mere  lodging- 
houses,  the  Sorbonne,  founded  about  1250,  furnishes  a 
striking  precedent  for  its  Oxford  successors,  as  au 
academical  cloister  specially  planned  for  the  education 
of  the  secular  clergy.  Nevertheless,  there  is  no  proof 
that  its  constitution  was  actually  imitated  or  studied  by 
the  founder  of  any  Oxford  college,  and  there  is  one 
important  diiTerence  between  the  Paris  and  Oxford 
colleges,  that  whereas  the  former  were  appropriated 
to  special  faculties,  the  latter  welcomed  students  in 
all  faculties.  It  is,  therefore,  by  no  means  improb- 
able that  in  the  development  of  the  college  system, 
as  in  the  original  incorporation  of  schools  into  an 
academical  body,  like  causes  produced  like  results  by 
independent  processes  at  the  French  and  English 
Universities. 

The  claim  of  University  College  to  priority  among 
Oxford  colleges  cannot  be  disputed,  if  the  foundation  of  a 
colleo-e  is  to  be  dated  from  the  earliest  of  the  endow- 
ments  afterwards  appropriated  to  its  support.  It 
was  in  1249  that  William  of  Durham  left  by  will  a 
sum  of  310  marks  to  the  University  of  Oxford  for  the 
maintenance  of  ten  or  more  Masters,  being  natives  of 


The  Early  Colleges  i? 

tlie  county  of  Durham,  in  lodgings  to  b3  provided  at 
Oxford  out  of  tliis  fund.     Two  houses  in  School  Street, 
Foundation    Oxford,   and  one  in  High  Street,  were  pur- 
sHv  nird"     chased  by   the  University   before  12G3,  and 
^'''''"^         were  probably  occupied  by  students.     There 
was,  however,  no  royal  charter  of  incorporation,  no  pro- 
vision for  corporate  self-government,  or  for   the   suc- 
cession of  fellows,  no  organised  society,  no  distribution 
of  powers  or  definition  of  duties.     In  a  word,  the  in- 
stitution  founded   by  William  of  Durham   w^as  not  a 
college,  but  an  exhibition-fund  to  be  administered  by 
the  University.     It   was   not    until    1292    that    this 
scattered  body  of  exhibitioners  was  consolidated  into 
*the    Great    Hall  of  the  University,'  as  it.  was  then 
called,  under  statutes  which  are  a  very  meagre  copy  of 
those  issued  nearly  thirty  years  earlier  by  Walter  de 
Merton,  and  which,  unlike  his,  were  imposed,  not  by 
the  founder,  but  by  the  University  itself.     Meanwhile, 
at  some  time  between  1263  and  1268,  John  Balliol,  of 
Barnard  Castle,  father  of  John  Balliol,  king  of  Scot- 
land,   provided   similar   exhibitions   for   poor    scdiolars 
at  Oxford.     His  intention  was  completed  by  his  wife, 
Dervorguilla,  w^ho  collected  the  recipients  of  his  bounty 
into  a  single  building  on  the  present  site  of  the  college, 
increased  the  endowments  so  that  it  might  support  a 
bodv  of  sixteen  exhibitioners  with  a  yearly  stipend  of 
twenty-seven  marks  apiece,  and  in  1282  issued  statut-es 
regulating  the  new  foundation,  but  fully  conceding  the 
principle  of  self-government. 

In  the  meantime  Merton  College  had  been  founded 
on  a  far  larger  scale,  and  had  received  statutes  which, 

0 


1 8  The  University  of  Oxford 

viewed  across  tlie  interval  of  six  centuries,  astonisli 
us  by  tlieir  comprehensive  wisdom  and  foresight.  As  an 
Fownfiation    institution  for  the    promotion  of  academical 

of  Mertou  .  n       • 

College  education  under  collegiate  discipline  but  secu- 
lar guidance,  it  was  the  expression  of  a  conception 
entirely  new  in  England,  which  deserves  special  con- 
Bideration,  inasmuch  as  it  became  the  model  of  all 
other  collegiate  foundations,  and  determined  the  future 
constitution  of  both  the  Enoflish  Universities.  In  this 
sense,  Merton  College  is  entitled  to  something  more 
than  precedence,  for  its  founder  was  the  real  founder  of 
the  English  college-system. 

The  oldest  foundation  charter  of  Merton  Colleo^e, 
issued  in  1264,  was  itself  the  development  of  still  earlier 
Merton  schcmes  for  the  support  of  poor  scholars,  in  sclio- 
statSesof,  ^^'^  degentes.  It  established  an  endowed  'House 
^-''^  of  the  scholars  of  Merton '  at  Maiden,  in  Surrey, 

under  a  warden  or  bailiffs,  with  two  or  three  '  ministers 
of  the  altar.'  Out  of  the  estates  assio-ned  to  this  col- 
legiate  house  were  to  be  maintained  a  body  of  twenty 
students  in  a  hall  or  lodging  at  Oxford,  or  elsewhere,  if 
a  more  flourishing  studmm  generale  should  elsev>'here  be 
instituted.  In  1274,  Walter  de  Merton,  having  greatly 
■expanded  his  first  design,  put  forth  his  final  statutes, 
transferring  the  warden,  bailiffs,  and  ministers  of  the 
altar,  from  Maiden  to  Oxford,  and  designating  Oxford 
as  the  exclusive  and  permanent  home  of  the  scholars. 
'These  statutes,  which  continued  in  force  until  the  year 
1856,  are  a  marvellous  repertory  of  minute  and  elabo- 
rate provisions  governing  every  detail  of  college  life. 
The   number   and   allowances   of   the   scholars;   their 


The  Early  Colleges  19 

stuclles,  diet,  costume,  and  discipline ;  tlie  qualifications, 
election,  and  functions  of  the  warden  ;  the  distribution 
of  powers  among  various  college  officers ;  the  manage- 
ment of  the  college  estates,  and  the  conduct  of  college 
business,  are  here  regulated  with  truly  remarkable 
sag&city.  The  policy  which  dictated  and  underlies  them 
is  easy  to  discern.  Fully  appreciating  the  intellectual 
movement  of  his  age,  and  unwilling  to  see  the  para- 
mount control  of  it  in  the  hands  of  the  relio-ious  orders 
— the  zealous  apostles  of  Papal  supremacy — Walter  de 
Merton  resolved  to  establish  within  the  precincts  of 
the  University  a  great  seminary  of  secular  clergy,  which 
should  educate  a  succession  of  men  capable  of  doing 
good  service  in  Church  and  State.  He  was  not  content 
with  a  copy  or  even  a  mere  adaptation  of  the  monastic 
idea ;  on  the  contrary,  it  n^ay  be  surmised  that  he  was 
influenced,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  by  the  spirit  of 
those  non-monastic  institutions,  now  almost  forgotten, 
in  which  the  parochial  clergy  of  an  earlier  age  had 
sometimes  lived  too-ether  under  a  common  rule.  The 
employment  of  his  scholars  was  to  be  study — not  the 
claustralis  relicjio  of  the  older  religious  orders,  nor 
the  more  practical  and  popular  self-devotion  of  the 
Dominicans  and  Franciscans.  He  forbade  them  ever  to 
take  vows  ;  he  enjoined  them  to  maintain  their  corporate 
independence  against  all  foreign  encroachments ;  he 
ordained  that  all  should  apply  themselves  to  stud3'ing 
the  liberal  arts  and  philosophy  before  entering  upon  a 
course  of  theology  ;  and  he  provided  special  chaplains 
to  relieve  them  of  ritual  and  ceremonial  duties.  He 
contemplated  and  even  encouraged   their  going  forth 

c  2 


20  The  University  of  Oxford 

into  the  great  world,  only  reminding  tliose  wlio  miglit 
win  an  ample  fortune  (itherior  fortand)  to  show  their 
gratitude  by  advancing  the  interests  of  the  college. 
No  ascetic  obligations  were  laid  upon  them,  but  resid- 
ence and  continuous  study  were  strictly  prescribed, 
and  if  any  scholars  retired  from  the  college  with  the 
intention  of  giving  up  learning,  or  even  ceased  to  study 
diligently,  their  salaries  were  no  longer  to  be  paid.  If 
the  scale  of  these  salaries  and  statutable  allowances  was 
humble,  it  was  chieflv  because  the  founder  intended 
the  number  of  his  scholars  to  be  constantly  increased, 
as  the  revenues  of  the  house  might  be  enlarged.  He 
even  recognised  the  duty  of  meeting  the  needs  of  future 
ages,  and  empowered  his  scholars  not  only  to  make  new 
statutes,  but  even  to  migrate  elsewhere  from  Oxford  in 
case  of  necessity. 

If  we  seek  to  measure  the  effect  produced  by  the 
rise  of  colleges  on  the  character  of  the  University,  we 
Social  must  endeavour  to  realise  the  aspect  of  Uni- 

position,  •,       TP  T  1      /.  n 

manners,  vcrsity  liie  and  manners  beiore  colleges  were 
academical     planted  in  Oxford.     The  students,  as  we  have 

life  of  early  . 

atu'ients  sccu,  wero  lodged  m  religious  nouses,  licensed 
halls,  or  private  chambers.  The  former  were  mostly 
destined  to  swell  the  ranks  of  the  regular  clergy,  and, 
it  may  be  presumed,  were  subjected  to  some  wholesome 
rules  of  discipline,  independent  of  any  authority  exer- 
cised by  the  University.  As  they  also  received  the 
whole  or  the  greater  part  of  their  instruction  within  the 
walls  of  their  convents,  they  probably  were  rarely  seen 
in  the  streets,  cultivated  a  certain  degree  of  refinement, 
and  took  comparatively  little  part  in  the  riots  which 
constantly  disturbed  the  peace  of  Oxford  in  the  Middle 


The  Early  Colleges  21 

Ages.     Witli  the  other  two  classes  it  was  far  otherwise. 
Even  the  inmates  of  halls  lived  in  a  style  and  under 
conditions  which,  in  our  own  age,  would  be  regarded 
as  barbarism.     Like  other  scholars,  they  were  chiefly 
drawn  from  a  social  grade  below  that  of  esquires  cr 
wealthy   merchants.      Many   of    them   were   the    le&s 
vio-orous  members  of  yeomen's  or  tradesmen's  families  ; 
not  a  few  sprang  from  the  very  lowest  ranks,  and  actually 
begged  their  way  to  Oxford.     The  majority  had  pro- 
bal^ly  come  as  mere  schoolboys,  at  the  age  of  eleven  or 
twelve,  to  one  of  the  numerous  grammar-schools  which 
prepared  their  pupils  for  the  higher  studies  taught  in 
the  '  Schools  of  Oxford  '  properly  so  called.     It  was  for 
these  younger  scholars,  we  may  suppose,  that  regular 
'fetchers  '  and  '  bringers  '  were  licensed  by  the  Univer- 
Bity,  as  we  learn  from  a  document  of  1459,  though  some 
were  attended  by  private  servants.     The  older  scholars, 
however,  doubtless  travelled  in  parties,  for  the  sake  of 
protection   and   economy,   with   their   scanty  baggage 
slung  over   the  backs  of  pack-horses.     Having  safely 
arrived  in  Oxford,  they  would  disperse  to  their  several 
halls  ;  aud  it  does  not  appear  that,  at  this  period,  a  fresh- 
man underwent  any  process  of  matriculation  or  took  any 
oath  before  acquiring  tfie  privileges  of  the  University.  He 
would,  of  course,  share  his  bedroom,  if  not  his  bed,  with 
others,  and  be  content  with  the  roughest  fare,  but  he 
must  also  have  dispensed  with  nearly  all  the  manifold 
aids  to  study  now  enjoyed  by  the  humblest  students. 
Books  existed  only  in  the  form  of  costly  manuscripts 
treasured  up  in  the  chilly  reading-rooms  of  monasteries ; 
privacy  was  as  impossible  by  day  as  by  night ;  and  the 
only  chance  of  acquiring  knowledge  was  by  hano^ing 


22  The  University  of  Oxford 

upon  the  lips  of  a  teacher  lecturing  to  a  raixed  class  of 
all  ages  and  infinitely  various  attainments,  in  an  ill- 
lighted  room,  unprovided  with  desks  or  fireplace,  which 
in  these  days  would  be  condemned  as  utterly  unfit  for  an 
elementary  school-room.  The  principal  of  his  hall,  it  is 
true,  was  supposed  to  be  his  tutor,  but  we  have  positive 
evidence,  in  a  statute  of  1432,  that  principals  themselves 
were  sometimes  illiterate  persons,  and  of  doubtful 
character ;  nor  was  it  until  that  vear  that  it  was  neces- 
sary  for  them  to  be  graduates.  "What  kind  of  language 
he  would  hear,  and  what  kind  of  habits  he  would  learn, 
from  his  chamber-mates  and  class-mates  in  the  century 
preceding  the  age  of  Chaucer,  we  can  be  at  no  loss  to 
imagine.  And  yet  the  inmate  of  a  hall,  being  under 
some  kind  of  domestic  superintendence,  was  a  model 
of  academical  propriety  compared  with  the  unat- 
tached students,  or  '  chamber-dekyns,'  whose  enormities 
fill  so  large  a  space  in  the  media3val  annals  of  the 
University. 

It  is  possible  that  a  certain  jealousy  on  the  part 
of  principals  and  others  personally  interested  in  the 
'Chamber-  Prosperity  of  halls  may  have  exaggerated  the 
dekyus'  vices  of  tlicso  cxtra-aulariau  students.  At  the 
same  time  it  is  self-evident  that  r&w  youths  conoTeo-ated 
together,  under  no  authority,  in  the  houses  of  towns- 
people, or  '  laymen,'  would  be  far  more  likely  to  be 
riotous  and  disorderly  than  members  of  halis,  or,  still 
more,  of  colleges.  Accordingly,  the  '  chamber-dekyns ' 
were  always  credited  with  the  chief  share  in  the  street 
brawls  and  other  excesses  which  so  often  disgraced  the 
University  in  the  Middle  Ages.  The  leading  statute 
on  the  subject,  it  is  true,  was  passed  in  the  year  1432, 


The  Early  Colleges  23 

when  colleges  and  halls  had  already  established  a  de- 
cisive ascendenc}^,  and  when  tlie  ^  chamber-dekyns ' 
may  have  sunk  into  greater  contempt  than  in  earlier 
times.  But  that  statute,  abolishing  the  system  of 
lodging  in  private  houses,  treats  its  abases  as  of  long 
standing,  and  probably  describes  a  state  of  things  which 
had  existed  for  two  centuries.  It  is  here  recited  that 
the  peace  of  the  University  is  constantly  disturbed  by 
persons  who,  having  the  appearance  of  scholars,  dwell 
in  no  hall  and  are  subject  to  no  principal,  but  lurk 
about  the  town  in  taverns  and  brothels,  committing 
murders  and  thefts ;  "wherefore  it  is  ordained  that  all 
scholars  must  reside  in  some  college  or  hall,  under 
pain  of  imprisonment,  and  that  no  towmsman  shall 
harbour  scholars  without  special  leave  from  the  chan- 
cellor. 

The  realitv  of  the  evils  ao-ainst  which  this  statute 
was  aimed  is  attested  by  the  'frequent  recurrence  of 
street  Other  statutcs  against  crimes  of  violence  com- 

disorders  uiittcd  by  scliolars,  as  well  as  by  college  rules 
against  frequenting  the  streets  except  under  proper 
control.  AYe  may  take  as  an  example  an  University 
statute  passed  in  1432  against  '  the  unbridled  prevalence 
of  execrable  disturbances  '  in  Oxford,  which  specifically 
imposes  fines,  on  a  graduated  scale,  for  threats  of  per- 
sonal violence,  carrying  weapons,  pushing  with  the 
shoulder  or  striking  with  the  fist,  striking  with  a  stone 
or  club,  striking  with  a  knife,  dagger,  sword,  axe,  or 
other  warlike  weapon,  carrying  bows  and  arrows,  gather- 
ing armed  men,  and  resisting  the  execution  of  justice, 
especially  by  night.  The  main  cause  of  these  brawls 
is  clearly  indicated  by  the  further  injunction  that  no 


24  The  University  of  Oxford 

scholar  or  Master  shall  take  part  with  another  because 
he  is  of  the  same  country,  or  against  him  because  he  is 
of  a  different  country.  The  statutable  fines  range  from 
one  shilling  to  no  less  than  forty — a  highly  deterrent 
penalty  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.  It  is  to  be  observed 
that  while  the  parade  of  arms  within  the  chancellor's 
jurisdiction  is  prohibited,  the  possession  of  them  is 
rather  taken  for  granted,  since  they  were  usually  carried 
for  purposes  of  defence  on  long  journeys.  Bows  and 
arrows,  as  essentially  offensive  weapons,  are  naturally 
placed  under  a  stricter  ban,  and  the  heaviest  punish- 
ment is  properly  reserved  for  riotous  assemblages,  which 
had  so  often  led  to  bloodshed  in  the  streets  of  medigeval 
Oxford. 

In  such  a  state  of  society  colleges  offered  not  only  a 
tranquil  retreat  to  adult  scholars,  but  also  a  safe  and 
snreriority  wcll-regulated  home  to  younger  students  at- 
^ndTsr^Sne  tending  courses  of  lectures  in  the  schools. 
raid  tuition  ^\q  early  founders,  it  is  true,  did  not  design 
them  to  be  mainly  educational  seminaries  for  the  general 
youth  of  the  country,  and  probably  expected  their 
inmates  to  obtain  much  of  their  instruction  outside  the 
walls  of  the  college .  But  the  statutes  of  Merton  prove 
conclusively  that '  Scholars  '  ^  on  admission  were  supposed 
to  be  of  about  the  same  age  as  modern  freshmen,  and  to 
need  rudimentary  teaching,  while  express  provision  was 
made  for  the  reception  of  mere  schoolboys.  Doubtless, 
for  at  least  two  centuries  after  the  institution  of  collea'es, 
their  members  were  greatly  outnumbered  by  those  of 

*  In  the  Merton  Statutes  the  words  'Scholar'  ard  'Fellow'  are 
convertible,  the  Scholar  being  a  Junior  Fellow  upon  his  first  ad- 
mission. 


The  Early  Colleges  25 

halls,  and  tlie  system  wlilcli  in  the  fifteenth  centniy 
triumphed  over  the  rivahy  of  private  hostels  may  be 
more  properly  called  aularian  than  collegiate.  Never- 
theless, the  superiority  of  colleges  as  boarding-houses 
for  students  inevitably  made  itself  felt  from  the  very 
first.  Humble  as  their  buildinofs  and  domestic  arrano^e- 
ments  may  originally  have  been,  they  were  imposing 
and  luxurious  by  contrast  with  those  of  lodging-houses 
or  halls.  Their  endowments  enabled  them  to  maintain 
a  standard  of  decency  and  comfort  in  itself  conducive  to 
study;  their  statutes  ensured  regularity  of  discipline; 
their  corporate  privileges  and  rights  of  self-government 
imparted  a  dignity  and  security  to  all  connected  with 
them  \  the  example  and  authority  of  their  elder  fellows, 
mostly  engaged  in  scholastic  or  scientific  research,  if 
not  in  vigorous  lecturing,  cannot  have  been  wholly  lost 
upon  the  juniors.  In  Merton,  and  probably  in  other 
colleges,  disputations  were  carried  on  as  in  the  Univer- 
sity schools;  attendance  at  Divine  service  was  a  statut- 
able obligation  ;  students  were  not  allowed  to  go  about 
the  streets  unless  accompanied  by  a  Master  of  Arts  ;  in 
the  dormitories  the  seniors  were  invested  with  a  kind  of 
monitorial  authority  over  the  rest ;  and  misconduct  was 
punishable  with  expulsion.  By  degrees,  some  of  the 
halls  came  into  the  possession  and  under  the  control  of 
colleges,  which  might  naturally  elect  the  most  promis- 
ing of  their  inmates  to  scholarships.  No  wonder  that, 
however  weak  numerically,  the  seven  colleges  founded 
before  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century  produced  an 
immense  proportion  of  the  men  who  adorned  that  age 
by  their  learning  and  virtues.^     Thus,  out  of  eighteen 

*  Though   Canterbury   College  was  founded  in  this  ccnturj,  it 


26  The  University  of  Oxford 

vice-chancellors  who  can  be  identified  as  havino-  filled 
that  office  in  the  fourteenth  century,  five  at  least  were 
members  of  Merton  College,  two  of  Oriel,  and  one  of 
Queen's.  Of  sixty-four  proctors  known  to  have  been 
elected  during  the  same  century,  twenty-two  at  least 
were  members  of  Merton,  eight  of  Oriel,  four  of  Balliol, 
and  one  of  University,  Exeter,  Queen's,  and  New 
Ooll?ge  respectively,  while  it  is  probable  that  others,  of 
whom  nothing  definite  is  known,  really  belonged  to  one 
of  the  seven  ancient  colleges.  Considering  hovf  largely 
the  non-collegiate  population  of  the  University  out- 
numbered these  small  collegiate  bodies,  it  is  a  very 
significant  fact  that  so  many  vice-chancellors  and 
proctors  should  have  been  chosen  from  them  in  days 
when  election  to  both  these  ofiices  was  entirely  free. 
Such  a  fact  goes  far  to  prove  that  the  '  college  monopoly,' 
of  which  so  much  has  been  heard  in  later  times,  owed 
its  origin,  in  a  great  degree,  to  natural  selection  in  a 
genuine  struggle  for  existence  between  endowed  and 
unendowed  societies. 

does  not  seem  to  have  ranked  with  other  colleges  in  the  University, 
and  no  vice-chancellor  or  proctor  is  recorded  to  have  been  elected 
from  it. 


Progress  of  tub  University  27 


CH^iPTER  III. 

PROGRESS    OF   THE   UNIVERSITY  IN   THE   FOURTEENTH 

CENTURY. 


i 


The  foiirteentli  century  deserves  to  be  regarded  as  tiio 
most  progressive  and  eventful  in  the  history  of  the 
Europeinthe  Middle  Ao'es.     All  the  kino'doms  of  Europe 

fourtecuDh  ^  p         ,  n         . 

ceutury  wero  engaged  m  wars,  tor  the  most  part  desti- 
tute of  permanent  results,  yet  the  work  of  civilisation 
went  forward  with  unbroken  steadiness  and  rapidity. 
The  Spanish  monarchies  of  Castile  and  Arragon  con- 
tinued their  long  struggle  for  supremacy  with  each 
•other,  and  for  national  existence  with  the  Mohammedan 
power  at  Granada.  Geruiany  was  distracted  by  civil 
wars  and  double  imperial  elections ;  Italy  was  torn 
asunder  by  the  factions  of  the  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines. 
The  usurpation  and  avarice  of  the  Roman  Court  pro- 
duced an  all  but  general  revolt  against  PappJ  authority; 
the  scat  of  the  Holy  See  was  transferred  for  sixty  years 
to  Avignon,  and  the  return  of  the  Pope  to  Rome  was 
follow^ed  by  '  the  Great  Schism,'  which  lasted  fifty  years 
longer ;  Russia  was  subject  to  the  Khan  of  Kipchak 
until  its  southern  provinces  were  overrun  by  the  hordes 
ofTimur;  Poland  and  Hungary  were  exhausting  their 
strength  in  expeditions  against  their  neighbours  or 
against  Venice,  while  the  Ottoman  Turks  were  advancing 
into  the  heart  of  Eastern  Europe.  England  was  entering 
upon  its  purely  dynastic  crusades  for  the  possession  of 


28  The  University  of  Oxford 

tlie  Sootcli  and  Frencli  crowns,  wliicli,  frnitfal  as  tliey 
were  in  military  glory,  diverted  tlie  energies  of  the 
nation,  wasted  its  resources,  and  retarded  its  internal 
development  for  several  generations.  Nevertheless, 
literature,  art,  and  education  flourished  marvellously 
in  the  midst  of  the  storms  which  racked  European 
society.  Ancient  learning  was  revived  in  Italy  chiefly 
by  the  influence  of  Petrarch  and  Boccaccio ;  Dante 
became  the  father  of  modern  Italian  poetry ;  Gimabue 
and  his  pupils  founded  the  Italian  school  of  painting  ; 
scholastic  philosophy  culminated  and  gave  place  to  a 
more  independent  spirit  of  inquiry ;  scientific  research 
first  began  to  emancipate  itself  from  magical  arts ; 
Roman  law  extended  its  dominion  everyv/here  except 
in  England,  where,  however,  Chaucer  and  Wyclif  gave 
the  first  powerful  impulse  to  native  English  thought ; 
free  thinking  in  politics  and  religion  penetrated  deeply 
into  the  popular  mind,  and  increasing  refinement  of 
manners  kept  joace  with  the  growth  of  trade  and 
industry.  Universities  sprang  up  one  after  another — 
in  France,  in  Spain,  in  Italy,  in  Poland,  in  Hungary, 
in  Austria,  and  in  Germany ;  nor  is  it  unduly  rash  to 
surmise  that,  if  the  invention  of  printing  could  have 
been  anticipated  by  a  century,  the  Renaissance  and  the 
Reformation  itself  might  have  preceded  the  capture  of 
Constantinople  and  the  discovery  of  America. 

At  the  commencement  of  this  century  Oxford  pre- 
sented strange  contrasts  between  the  social  and  the 
socifi' coiuii-  intellectual  aspects  of  its  academical  life.     The 

tioii  of  tlie  .  nrvrr 

University  great  riot  01  1297  was  scarcely  over,  and  had 
left  a  hcritao-e  of  ill-will  which  bore  fruit  in  the  frio-ht- 
ful   conflict   of    1354 ;    the   encounters    between    the 


Peogress  of  the  University  29 

nortliern  and  southern  nations  were  of  frequent  recur- 
rence, and  there  was  no  effective  system  of  University 
discipline,  while  college  discipline,  still  in  its  infancy, 
was  confined  within  the  precincts  of  Merton,  University, 
and  Balliol.  The  common  herd  of  students,  inmates 
of  halls  and  inns  and  lodging-houses,  were  still  crowded 
together  in  miserable  sleeping-rooms  and  lecture-rooms, 
without  domestic  care  or  comfort,  and  strangers  to  all 
those  frank  and  generous  relations  which  naturally  grow 
up  between  young  Englishmen,  especially  of  gentle  birth, 
in  the  kindly  intercourse  of  modern  college  life.  They 
often  rendered  more  or  less  menial  services  in  return  for 
their  instruction,  and  were  sometimes  enabled  to  bor- 
row from  the  University  Chest ;  at  other  times  they 
relapsed  into  mendicity,  and  asked  for  alms  on  the 
public  highways.  There  were  no  libraries  or  museums, 
and  the  few  books  possessed  by  the  University  were 
stored  in  a  vault  under  St.  Mary's  Church.  The  laws 
of  health  being  unknown,  and  every  sanitary  precaution 
neglected,  the  city  of  Oxford  was  constantly  scourged 
with  pestilence  from  which  members  of  the  University 
were  fliin  to  fly  into  neighbouring  country  villages. 

Under  such  conditions,  and  in  such  a  society,  it  was 
utterly  impossible  that  education  or  learning  could 
inte'iectnai    flourish  p'enerallv  accordinsr   to    our  modern 

vigour  of  tlie    .  .      .  . 

uuiversity  ideas,  and  yet  it  is  certain  that  a  restless  and 
even  feverish  activity  of  speculation  prevailed  within  an 
inner  circle  of  philosophical  spirits,  to  which  there  are 
few  parallels  in  the  history  of  thought.  If  their  treasury 
of  knowledge  was  scanty  in  the  extreme,  yet  the  range 
of  their  studies  was  truly  sublime,  both  in  its  aims 
and  in  its  orbit.     In  the  chilly  squalor  of  uncarpeted 


^o  The  University  of  Oxford 

and  unwarmed  chambers,  by  the  light  of  narrow  and 
unglazed  casements,  or  the  gleam  of  flickering  oil  lamps, 
poring  over  dusky  manuscripts  hardly  to  be  deciphered 
by  modern  eyesight,  undisturbed  by  the  boisterous  din 
of  riot  and  revelry  without,  men  of  humble  birth,  and 
dependent  on  charity  for  bare  subsistence,  but  with  a 
noble  self-confidence  transcending  that  of  Bacon  or  of 
Newton,  thought  out  and  copied  out  those  subtle  master- 
pieces'of  mediaeval  lore,  purporting  to  unveil  the  hidden 
laws  of  Nature  as  well  as  the  dark  counsels  of  Provi- 
dence and  the  secrets  of  human  destiny,  which — frivolous 
and  baseless  as  they  may  appear  under  the  scrutiny  of  a 
later  criticism — must  still  be  ranked  among  the  grandest 
achievements  of  speculative  reason.  We  must  remember 
that  archery  and  other  outdoor  sports  were  then  mostly 
in  the  nature  of  martial  exercises  reserved  for  the  war- 
like classes,  while  music  and  the  fine  arts  were  all  but 
unknown,  and  the  sedentary  labour  of  the  student  was 
relieved  neither  by  the  athletic  nor  by. the  assthetic 
pastiuies  of  our  own  more  favoured  age.  Thus  driven  in- 
ward upon  itself,  the  fire  of  intellectual  ambition  burned 
with  a  tenfold  intensity,  and  it  was  tempered  by  no  such 
humility  as  the  infinite  range  of  modern  science  im- 
poses on  the  boldest  of  its  disciples.  In  many  a  nightly 
vigil,  and  in  many  a  lonely  ramble  over  the  wild  hill-sfdes 
beyond  Cowley  and  Hincksey,  or  along  the  river-sides 
between  Godstow  and  Ifiley,  these  pioneers  of  philo- 
sophical research,  to  whom  alchemy  was  chemistry,  and 
astronomy  but  the  key  to  astrology,  constantly  pursued 
their  hopeless  quest  of  Wisdom  as  it  was  dimly  conceived 
by  the  patriarch  Job,  pressing  Aristotle  into  the  service 
of  mcdioival  theology,  which  they  regarded  as  the  science 


c. 


Progress  of  the  University  31 

of  sciences,  and  inventing  a  mysterious  pliraseology 
wliicli  to  us  has  lost  its  meaning,  but  which  they  mistook 
for  solid  knowledge,  fondly  imagining  that  it  might 
lead  them  upward  to  some  primary  law  governing  the 
whole  realm  of  matter  and  of  mind.  They  failed, 
indeed,  because  success  was  hopeless,  but  their  very 
failure  paved  the  way  for  the  '  new  knowledge '  of  the 
next  century,  and  cleared  the  ground  for  the  methods 
and  discoveries  which  have  made  other  names  immortal. 
Durins?  the  reiofns  of  Edward  II.  and  Edward  III. 
the  collegiate  element  in  the  University  was  strengthened 
Fonn(i:ition  ^7  ^^®  foundation  of  five  new  colleges,  one  of 
ori^r'*^"^'  '^liich  has  since  become  extinct.  The  first  of 
Snt^rburf  thcso  was  Exetor  College,  founded  in  1314  by 
Colleges  ^y alter  de  Stapledon,  bishop  of  Exeter.  Ten 
years  later,  in  1324,  Adam  de  Brome,  almoner  of  King 
Edward  II.,  procured  from  that  king  a  charter  of  incor- 
poration for  a  college,  to  be  called  St.  Mary's  House, 
and  to  consist  of  a  rector  and  scholars  in  divers  sciences. 
In  the  following  year,  having  purchased  the  site  of  the 
present  college,  now  called  Oriel,  he  transferred  it  to 
the  king,  who,  by  a  fresh  charter,  erected  there  a  col- 
legiate society  of  ten  scholars  for  the  study  of  divinity. 
Queen's  College  was  founded  upon  a  similar  model, 
anir  under  similar  conditions,  in  the  year  1310,  by 
Robert  de  Egglesfield,  chaplain  to  Queen  Philippa. 
The  rules  of  study  and  discipline  for  Oriel  and  Queen's 
were  mostly  borrowed  from  those  of  Merton,  but 
some  interesting  peculiarities  may  be  found  in  the 
Queen's  statutes.  The  removal  of  the  University  from 
Oxford  is  distinctly  contemplated,  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
able  men  are  to  be  welcomed  as  scholars  from  all  parts 


^'  :r&-a^ 


I 


0?  TJ 


32  The  University  oe  Oxford 

of  the  world,  thougli  a  preference  is  reserved  for  appli- 
cants from  Cumberland  and  Westmoreland,  the  founder's 
native  county,  on  account  of  its  recent  devastation  in. 
border-warfare.  The  securities  for  impartial  election  to 
fellowships  are  unusually  minute,  and  there  is  a  great 
variety  of  regulations  strongly  tinged  with  the  mystical 
tendency  of  the  founder's  own  mind.  Canterbury  Col- 
lege, founded  by  Archbishop  Simon  Islip  in  1361, 
differed  from  these  in  its  original  constitution,  since  it 
embraced  both  secular  and  '  religious  '  students,  and  was 
mainly  designed  to  promote  the  study  of  the  civil  and 
canon  law.  Two  years  later,  however,  this  design  was 
abandoned,  and  the  college  was  appropriated  to  secular 
priests  only,  when  John  Wyclif,  probably  the  Reformer, 
was  appointed  its  first  head ;  but  he  was  removed  by 
Archbishop  Langham,  and  the  college  became  a 
monastic  nursery  under  the  priory  of  Canterbury,  until 
it  was  absorbed  into  Christ  Church  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII. 

The  foundation  of  New  College  by  William  of 
Wykeham,  bishop  of  Winchester,  in  1379,  has  been 
Fonndatiou  held   to  mark  a  new  departure  in  colleoiate 

of  New  ^ 

College  history.  Like  Walter  de  Merton,  William  of 
Wykeham  had  filled  various  high  offices  of  State, 
including  that  of  chancellor,  and  is  well  known  as 
the  designer  of  several  great  architectural  works.  His 
main  object  in  founding  the  College  of  '  St.  Mary 
of  Winchester  in  Oxford,'  since  known  as  New  College, 
is  clearly  stated  in  his  charter.  It  was  to  repair  '  the 
scarcity  of  scholars  in  the  nation,  having  been  swept 
away  by  great  pestilences  and  wars.'  Accordingly,  in 
1379,  he  obtained  a  license  from  llichard  II.  to  foand 


Progress  of  the  University  33 

a  college  '  for  seventy  scliolars  studying  in  tlic  faculties,' 
all  of  whom  were  to   have   passed  through  his  other 
college  for  boys  at  Winchester  itself.     These  scholars 
were  to  be  '  poor  indigent  clerks,'  sufficiently  taught  in 
grammar,  and  under  twenty  years  of  age.     Ten  were  to 
study  civil  and  ten  canon  law  ;  the  remaining  fifty  were 
to  study  the  Arts,  or  philosophy  and  theology,  though 
two  of  these  might  be  specially  permitted  to   devote 
them&;elves  to   astronomy,  and  two  to  medicine.     But 
the  claim  of  William  of  Wykeham  to  be  considered  the 
second  founder  of  the  college-system  depends  less  on 
any    notable    peculiarity  in   his  statutes  than    on    the 
o-randeur    and    res^ularity  of   the    buildings   which    he 
erected  on  a  site  then  vacant,  and  found  by  a  jury  to  be 
infested  by  malefactors,  murderers,  and  thieves,  as  well 
as  the  scene    of  other  public  nuisances.      The   noble 
quadrangle,  of  which  the  scholars  took  possession  on  the 
1-ith  of  April,    1386,  having  already  been  lodged  in 
Hert  Hall  and  other  tenements,  doubtless  served  as  the 
model  for  all  the  later  colleges,  and  the  supremacy  of 
colleges  over  halls  may  fitly  be  dated  from  the  end  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  when  New  College  was  the  most 
imposing  centre  of  collegiate  life. 

The  importance  of  Oxford  in  the  eyes  of  Europe  was 
increased  during  the  fourteenth  century  by  two  causes, 
European  ^^^  decline  of  the  University  of  Paris,  and  the 
oxfordTu''^  vigorous  protest  of  Oxford  schoolmen  against 
fourteenth  the  Spiritual  despotism  of  the  Papacy,  dis- 
century  credited  by  its  subjection  to  French  influence 
at  Avignon.  The  former  of  these  causes  was,  in  fact, 
nearly  connected  with  the  latter.  The  University  of 
Paris   had   owed   much  to  Papal    encouragement   and 

D 


34  The  University  oe  Oxford 

protection,  but  it  liacl  always  struggled  for  corporate 
independence,  and  when,  in  1316,  it  stooped  to  solicit 
the  patronage  of  John  XXII.,  by  submitting  to  him  a 
list  of  candidates  for  preferment,  it  forfeited  its  unique 
position  in  the  estimation  of  European  scholars,  then  a 
small  but  united  brotherhood.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
was  an  English  Franciscan  of  Oxford— William  of 
Occham — who  not  only  challenged  the  supremacy  of  the 
Pope,  but  'proclaimed  the  severance  of  logic  from 
theology.'  The  assertion  of  this  bold  paradox,  aggra- 
vated by  the  aggressive  Nominalism  of  its  author, 
nearly  cost  him  his  life,  for  he  was  imprisoned  by  the 
Pope's  order  at  Avignon,  and  only  escaped  death  by 
taking  refuge  at  Munich  with  the  Emperor  Louis  of 
Bavaria.  His  doctrines,  however,  found  wide  acceptance 
at  Oxford,  and  paved  the  way  for  the  far  deeper  revolu- 
iiion  in  ideas  of  which  John  Wyclif  was  the  pioneer. 

The  biography  of  this  remarkable  man,  if  authentic 
tnaterials  for  it  existed,  would  cover  almost  the  whole 
Rise  of  academical  history  of  Oxford  during  the  latter 
^•^^^'^  part  of  the  fourteenth  century.  Unfortu- 
rately,  many  of  the  facts  are  still  involved  in  uncertainty. 
Like  Duns  Scotus,  he  is  believed  to  have  been  a 
■Northerner,  though  his  birthplace  is  doubtful ;  like  him , 
too,  he  was  at  once  a  Realist  in  metaphysics  and  a 
champion  of  liberty  in  theology.  Several  colleges  have 
claimed  him  as  their  own  ;  Balliol  has  enrolled  him 
■among  its  Masters,  Queen's  among  its  commoners,  and 
Merton  among  its  fellows.  His  name  only  appears  in 
the  books  of  Merton  in  the  year  1356,  and  though  he 
soon  afterwards  took  an  active  part  in  the  controversies 
of  the  day  at  Balliol  and  elsewhere,  it  was  not  until 


Progress  of  the  University  35 

after  1374  that  lie  became  known  as  the  founder  of  a 
new  school  in  theology,  and,  still  more,  as  a  dauntless 
assaikxnt  of  the  corruptions  incident  to  Papal  supremacy 
and  priestly  authority.     In  asserting  the  right  of  private 
judgment  and  exposing  ecclesiastical  abuses,  he  was  a 
true   successor   of    Occham,   but    he    dissented    from 
Occham's  Nominalism;  his   sympathies   were   entirely 
with  the  secular  clergy ;  and,  whereas  Occham  was  a 
Franciscan,  Wyclif  inveighed  against  all  the  monastic 
Orders,  but  especially  against  the  friars.     The  move- 
ment  which  he  led  was  essentially  academical  in  its 
origin,  and  definitely  marks  a  great  academical  reaction 
against  the  regular  clergy,  to  whose  influence  learning 
and  education  had  owed  so  much  in  the  previous  century. 
The  career  of  Wyclif,  indeed,  belongs  to  the  Uni- 
versity quite  as  much  as  to  the  Church.     It  was  as  the 
Career  of       l^st  of  the  Oxford  schoolmcn,  and  mostly  from 
Wyclif         Oxford  itself,  that  he  put  forth  his  series  of 
books  and  pamphlets  on  the  relations  of  Church  and 
State,  on  the  subjection  of  the  clergy  to  civil  rule  civil 
taxation  and  civil  tribunals,  on  pardons,  indulgences, 
the  worship  of  saints,  transubstantiation,  the  supremacy 
of  Holy  Scripture,  and  other  like  topics,  besides  those 
abstruse  scholastic  themes  which  have  lost  their  interest 
for  the  present  age.     During  his  earlier  struggles,  the 
open  patronage  of  John  of  Gaunt,  with  the  occasional 
protection  of  the  Court,  stood  him  in  good  stead,  and 
enabled  him  to  brave  not  only  episcopal  censures  but 
Papal  anathemas.     His  real  strength,  however,  consisted 
in  the  influence  which  he  commanded  in  the  University 
itself  and,  through  it,  in  the  English  people.     When 
Pope  Gregory  XI.  despatched  a  Bull  to  the  University 

D  2 


36  The  University  of  Oxford 

of  Oxford,  calling  for  an  inquiry  into  his  erroneous 
doctrines,  tlie  University  barely  consented  to  receive  it, 
and  took  no  steps  to  comply  with  it,  thoug'h  it  was 
supported  by  similar  Bulls  addressed  to  the  King  and 
the  English  Bishops.  When  he  was  cited  for  the  second 
time  to  answ^er  for  his  opinions  in  London,  the  citizens 
were  his  avowed  partisans.  When  his  tenets  had  be- 
come discredited  among  the  aristocratic  party  by  their 
supposed  connection  with  the  Peasant  Revolt,  and  were 
officially  denounced,  in  1381,  by  the  Chancellor  of  the 
University,  sitting  with  twelve  doctors  as  assessors, 
his  cause  was,  nevertheless,  stoutly  maintained  by 
his  followers  at  Oxford.  The  next  Chancellor,  Robert 
Rygge,  of  Merton,  was  at  heart  among  his  adherents, 
and  informed  the  Archbishop  Courtenay,  in  answer  to 
a  mandate  requiring  him  to  search  all  the  colleges  and 
halls  for  Wycliffites,  that  it  was  as  much  as  his  life  was 
worth.  The  injunctions  of  the  Archbishop,  like  those 
of  his  predecessor,  were  practically  defied  at  Oxford, 
until  the  Crown  at  last  entered  the  lists  against  the 
Reformer.  In  1382,  a  Parliament  was  held  at  Oxford. 
Tlie  Convocation  which  accompanied  it  condemned 
Wyclifs  teaching  on  the  Eucharist ;  the  condemnation 
was  published  in  the  school  of  the  Augustinian  monks, 
where  Wyclif  himself  was  presiding  as  professor,  and  a 
peremptory  order  w^as  issued  for  his  expulsion  with  all 
his  disciples.  He  died  in  1384,  but  not  before  he  had 
completed  his  English  translation  of  the  Bible.  The 
spiiit  which  he  had  kindled  continued  to  animate  the 
University  for  many  years  after  his  death.  In  Merton 
College  alone  several  eminent  fellows  were  known  as 
Wycliffites  in  the  next  generation,  and  after  the  con- 


Progress  of  the  University  37 

clemnation  of  Lollardism  by  the  Council  of  London  in 
1411,  it  was  thought  necessary  to  pass  a  stringent 
University  statute  to  check  the  propagation  of  Lollard 
doctrines.  By  this  statute,  the  penalty  of  the  greater 
excommunication  svas  imposed  upon  all  who  should 
disseminate  Lollardism,  candidates  for  degrees  were  re- 
quired to  abjure  it,  and  heads  of  colleges  or  halls  were 
enjoined  to  exclude  from  their  societies  any  person  even 
suspected  of  it. 

While  the  University  was  agitated  by  these  philo- 
sophical and  theological  storms,  its  external  life  seems 
Feud  to  have  been  comparatively  uneventful  during 

^^'rrhera       the  fourteenth  century.     We  read,  however,  of 
^natioL''^^'^  a  ]:)rutal  faction  fight  between  '  the  Northern 
and     Southern    clerks'    in     1319,    and    this    ancient 
feud  continued  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  University 
for  several  generations.     The  Northern  party  was  ap- 
parently the  weaker  in  the  University,  perhaps  because 
it  had  sympathised  with  Simon  de  Mont  fort.     Accord- 
ingly we  learn   from   Anthony  Wood   that,  in  1334, 
Merton  College,  which  had  been  suspected  of  favouring 
that  party,  sought  to  regain  popularity  in  the  University 
by  declining  to  admit  Northern  scholars.     Again,  in 
1349,  a  strong  faction  in  the  same  college  succeeded  in 
procuring  the  election  of  Wylliott   as  Chancellor   by 
force,  driving  out  the  Northern  proctor,  and  committing 
acts  of  sanguinary  violence.     In    1327,  we  hear  of  a 
*  most  bloody  outrage '  committed  by  the  scholars  and 
townsmen  of  Oxford,   joined    with   the   townsmen    of 
Abingdon,  on  the  monks  of  Abingdon  Abbey ;  and  in 
1349-50  the  ravages  of  the  Black  Death  were  such  that 
Oxford  was  almost  deserted  by  its  students,  and  the 


38  The  University  of  Oxford 

Warden  of  Merton  is  said  to  liave  died  of  the  plague. 
Two  otlier  memorable  events  occurred  in  tlie  reign  of 
Edward  III.,  whicli  deserve  more  special  notice,  since 
tliey  fill  a  considerable  space  in  the  historical  records  of 
the  University.  The  one  of  these  was  the  secession  to 
Stamford  in  1333  ;  the  other  was  the  great  riot  which 
broke  out  on  St.  Scholastica's  Day,  1354,^ 

The  secession  to  Stamford  was  by  no  means  the  first 
migration  of  Oxford  students  to  another  provincial  town 
Early  seces-  siuco  the  foundation  of  the  University.  In 
Cambridge  1209  and  again  in  1239  bodies  of  discon- 
ampton  tcutcd  Oxoniaus  had  betaken  themselves  to 
Cambridge,  and  in  1260  a  more  important  seces- 
sion took  place,  of  which  two  different  accounts  have 
been  given.  According  to  one,  the  emigrants  were 
Northern  students  who  had  sided  with  Simon  de  Mont- 
fort  when  he  summoned  his  Parliament  to  Oxford  in 
1258,  and  framed  those  articles  which  became  the  signal 
for  civil  war.  It  is  further  stated  that,  having  been 
joined  at  Northampton  by  refugees  from  Cambridge, 
and  distinguished  themselves  in  defending  the  town 
against  the  Eoyal  forces,  they  narrowly  escaped  the 
King's  vengeance.  According  to  another  account, 
supported  by  the  authority  of  Anthonj^  Wood,  the  King 
himself,  fearing  the  effect  of  political  excitement  on  the 
masters  and  scholars  of  the  University,  expressly  sanc- 
tioned and  encouraged  the  new  settlement  at  North- 
ampton, specially  recommending  the  emigrants  to  the 
good  offices  of  the  mayor  and  bailiffs.  At  all  events, 
their  stay  at  Northampton  was  short,  for  they  returned 
to  Oxford  in  1204  or  1205,  apparently  in  obedience  to 

»  See  Chapter  IV. 


Progress  of  the  University  39 

a  Roval  order,  but  under  a  safe  conduct  from  Simon  de 
Montfort.  It  was  doubtless  this  Northampton  colony 
which  the  founder  of  Merton  had  in  view  when,  in  his 
first  statutes  issued  in  1264-,  he  gave  the  rulers  of  his 
new  society  power  to  remove  the  students  from  Oxford 
to  some  other  University  town — aid  alibi,  uhi  stiidiam 
viget  generale. 

The  origin  of  the  '  University  at  Stamford  '  is  still 
more  obscure.  Anthony  Wood  tells  us  simply  that 
Secession  to  Several  masters,  bachelors,  and  scholars  of 
1333 '  Oxford    '  did    under   colour  of  some    discord 

among  them,  and  upon  some  pretences  sought  after, 
depart  hence  unto  Stamford,  in  Lincolnshire,  and 
there  began,  or  rather  renewed  and  continued,  an 
academy.'  The  seceders  themselves,  appealing  to 
Edward  III.  in  January  1334,  for  permission  to  continue 
their  studies  at  Stamford,  vaguely  attributed  then-  with- 
drawal from  Oxford  to  disputes  and  disorders  which  had 
long  prevailed  in  that  University.  We  may  conjecture 
that  it  was  a  secession  of  Northern  students,  but  the 
only  certain  fact  is  that  it  was  headed  by  one  William 
de  Barnaby.  The  University  of  Oxford,  much  alarmed 
by  the  '  schism,'  as  it  was  called,  invoked  the  aid  of  the 
Queen  and  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln.  At  last,  the  King 
intervened,  but  it  was  not  till  after  three  Royal  moni- 
tions and  the  seizure  of  their  goods,  that  the  malcontents 
were  ejected  from  Stamford,  and  the  short-lived  Uni- 
versity broken  up  in  the  summer  of  1335.  A  list  of 
offenders  was  sent  to  Edward  III.,  but  it  only  contained 
thirty-eight  names,  including  those  of  seventeen  masters. 
The  '  Academy  '  at  Stamford,  however,  left  traces  in  the 
local  names  of  streets,  which  are  not  even  yet  wholly 


40  The  University  of  Oxford 

effaced,  and  the  jealousy  inspired  by  its  rivalry  was  not 
extinguished  for  more  than  a  century.  An  University 
statute  of  uncertain  date,  but  clearly  later  than  1425, 
and  evidently  re-enacting  an  order  already  in  force,  re- 
quires every  inceptor  in  any  faculty  to  swear  that  he 
will  not  recognise  any  University  besides  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  and  that  he  will  not  lecture  or  read  at 
Stamford.  Meanwhile,  a  compact  was  made  between 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  for  their  mutual  protection 
against  competition,  and  the  dual  monopoly  of  the  two 
ancient  Universities  was  henceforth  established. 

The  peace  of  the  University  was  further  promoted 
in  this  turbulent  age  by  the  gradual  development  of  the 
Growth  of  proctorial  authority.  The  origin  of  the  proc- 
Sri.r'"  tors',  like  that  of  the  Chancellor's,  office  is 
authority  guvcloped  in  much  obscurity.  The  first 
proctors  named  in  the  official  list,  which  follows  the 
Fasti  of  Anthony  Wood,  are  Roger  de  Plumpton  and 
Henry  de  Godfree,  who  are  set  do\vn  as  having  officiated 
in  1267.  Proctors  are  also  mentioned  by  name  under 
the  dates  1281,  1286,  and  1288.  During  the  first  half 
of  the  fourteenth  century  the  entries  of  proctors  occur 
in  fifteen  years  only,  but  in  one  case  the  same  two 
proctors  are  expressly  stated  to  have  served  for  two 
years,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that,  even  if  the  election 
was  annual,  others  may  have  served  for  longer  periods. 
Whatever  may  have  been  their  original  functions,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  in  1322,  if  not  much  earlier,  thev 
became  the  chief  executive  officers  of  the  University. 
It  was  a  main  part  of  their  duty  to  keep  the  peace,  as 
best  they  could,  not  only  between  scholars  and  towns- 
people, but  also  between  the  numerous  factions  among 


Progress  of  the  University  41 

the  scliolars  themselves,  between  the  friars  and  secular 
clergy,  between  the  ^  artists '  and  the  '  jurists,'  the  Nomi- 
nalists and  the  Realists,  the  English  students  and  those 
from  Wales,  Scotland,  or  Ireland,  and,  most  of  all,  the 
Northern  and  Southern  nations.  The  standing  quarrel 
between  these  great  academic  parties  overshadowed  and 
absorbed  into  itself  all  minor  rivalries,  and  influenced 
every  important  question  for  academic  action,  especially 
the  election  of  the  Chancellor.  According  to  Anthony 
Wood,  it  was  in  order  to  secure  fairness  and  good  order 
in  these  elections  that,  in  1343,  the  University  agreed 
that  one  proctor  should  always  be  a  Northerner  and  the 
other  a  Southerner,  for  the  purpose  of  acting  as  scruti- 
neers of  the  votes.  On  the  other  hand,  the  analogy 
of  the  University  of  Paris  might  lead  us  to  regard 
them  as  representatives,  from  the  very  first,  of  the 
*  nations.'  At  all  events,  their  powers  were  infinitely 
wider  and  more  various  than  those  of  mere  returning- 
ofiicers.  They  kept  the  money  and  accounts  of  the 
University,  regulated  the  whole  system  of  lectures  and 
disputations,  were  responsible  for  academical  discipline, 
and  were  empowered  to  impeach  the  Chancellor  himself. 
Like  him,  they  were  elected  b}^  the  whole  body  of 
reofents  and  non-re  events  in  Cono-reo-ation,  but  their 
elections  never  required  the  confirmation  of  the  Bishop 
of  Lincoln  as  diocesan,  whereas  that  of  the  Chancellor, 
as  we  have  seen,  was  originally  held  invalid  until  it  had 
been  thus  confirmed. 

In  the  reign  of  Edward  III,,  however,  a  great  step 
was  made  towards  academical  independence  by  the 
disuse  of  this  practice,  and  thenceforth  the  University 
chose   its  Chancellor  as  freely  as  its  proctors.     Some 


42  The  University  of  Oxford 

years  before  the  way  had  been  paved  for  this  revolt 
against  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  by  a  solemn  compact 
Concession  between  the  University  and  the  Cardinal  de 
off'reecJom'  Mota,  then  Archdcacon  of  Oxford  by  Papal 
Mon^of'^the'  provision,  but  permanently  non-resident.  This 
Chancellor  Cardinal- Archdcacou  had  assumed  to  exercise 
authority  over  the  University  through  certain  agents 
who  practised  extortions  for  his  benefit.  Thence 
arose  a  controversy  which  lasted  twenty  years,  the 
Cardinal  having  instituted  proceedings  against  the 
University  at  the  Papal  Court,  while  the  University 
appealed  first  to  Edward  11.  and  afterwards  to  Edward 
III.,  both  of  whom,  following  the  settled  policy  of  the 
Plantagenet  kings,  vigorously  intervened  on  its  behalf. 
At  last,  after  tedious  negotiations,  a  compromise,  very 
favourable  to  University  rights,  was  effected  by  the 
mediation  of  William  Bateman,  Bishop  of  Norwich. 
The  Chancellor  was  declared  to  have  archidiaconal  juris- 
diction over  all  doctors,  masters,  and  scholars,  religious 
and  lay,  and  even  over  all  rectors,  vicars,  and  chaplains 
within  the  University,  unless  they  should  hold  cures  of 
souls  in  Oxford,  in  which  case  they  should  pay  canonical 
obedience  to  the  archdeacon.  Moreover,  in  1368,  a  Bull 
was  procured  from  Pope  Urban,  solemnly  ordaining  that 
thenceforth  the  election  of  a  Chancellor  by  the  Univers- 
ity itself  should  be  sufficient,  without  the  confirmation 
of  the  diocesan.  The  reason  alleged  is  a  very  practical 
one — that  great  inconvenience  and  even  danger  to  the 
peace  of  the  University  had  resulted  from  the  necessity 
of  sending  a  deputation  to  follow  the  Bishop  into  dis- 
tant parts,  while  in  the  meantime  there  was  no  resident 
officer  to  keep  turbulent  persons  in  order. 


Conflicts  between  University  and  City  43 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CONFLICTS   BETWEEN   THE   UNIVERSITY   AND   THE   CITY. 

The  famous  riot  of  St.  Scliolastica's  Day,  1354,  may  be 
regarded  as  the  sequel  of  a  similar  fray  in  1297.  Both 
Eoyai  were  simply  violent  eruptions  of  a  deep-seated 

S'*^"*^       feud    between   the    University    and    city   of 
Oxford,  which  had  been  growing  for  several  generations. 
In  the  year  1290,  these  bodies  appeared  by  their  deputies 
before  the  King  and  Parliament,  when  certain  articles 
of  peace  were  concluded,  under  Royal  authority,  which 
exhibit  in  a  compendious  form  the  main  grievances  of 
the  citizens.     Most  of  these  grievances  relate  to  alleged 
abuses  of  the  Chancellor's  criminal  jurisdiction;  others 
have  reference  to  more  or  less  oppressive  privileges  of 
the  University,  such  as  its  claim  to  something  like  fixity 
of  rent,  if  not  of  tenure,  for  houses  in  the  occupation  of 
scholars.     On  each  point  submitted  to  him  the  King's 
award  is  conspicuous  for  its  good  sense  and  moderation. 
The  complaints  here  formulated  in  the  most  authentic 
shape  enable  us  to  understand  the  bitter  animosity  which 
iuot  of  1297   aggravated  town-and-gown  rows  of  the  thir- 
meutST298  tceuth  and  fourteenth  centuries  into  sanguinary 
contiicts  sometimes  bordering  upon  civil  war.    Contests 
•  about  municipal  franchises,  prices  of  provisions,  and 
rents  of  halls  or  inns,  were  eagerly  fanned  into  a  flame 
by  the  impetuous  passions  of  youth,  unrestrained  by  the 
kindlier  sentiments  of  humanity  and  respect  for  others 


44  The  Universjty  of  Oxford 

wHicli  temper  party-spirit  in  this  happier  age.  But 
seven  years  had  elapsed  since  this  award  of  Edward  I. 
had  been  made,  wheo,  as  Anthony  Wood  tells  us,  '  there 
arose  a  grievous  discord  between  the  clerks  and  laics  of 
Oxford,  occasioned  by  the  fighting  of  two  servants  of 
various  countries  that  were  upon  some  small  occasion 
invited  thereunto.'  Several  murderous  affrays  had 
already  taken  place  since  the  incident  thus  noticed, 
before  any  general  muster  of  townspeople  or  students 
took  place.  In  the  meantime  the  Chancellor  exerted 
himself  to  restore  order,  but  several  aldermen  and  lead- 
ing citizens  headed  the  mob,  who  sacked  various  scholars' 
houses  and  defeated  a  body  of  gownsmen  on  the  favourite 
battle-ground  of  the  Beaumont.  After  this  it  appears 
the  Chancellor  declined  to  comply  with  the  mayor's  re- 
quest that  he  would  confine  the  gownsmen  to  their  inns. 
Accordingly,  on  the  following  day  the  bells  of  St. 
Mary's,  as  well  as  of  St.  Martin's,  called  the  combatants 
to  arms,  and  several  thousands  are  said  to  have  engaged 
in  the  desperate  fray  which  ensued.  At  first  the  gowns- 
men carried  all  before  them,  being  superior  both  in 
weapons  and  in  defensive  armour,  and  broke  open  many 
shops  and  dwellings  of  the  burghers.  But  the  death  of 
their  leader  and  the  irruption  of  rustic  labourers  from 
the  country  to  aid  the  townspeople  ultimately  turned 
the  tide  of  battle  against  them.  Once  compelled  to 
retreat,  they  were  hunted  down  and  brutally  maltreated 
by  the  populace;  several  were  killed;  others  were  torn 
from  the  sanctuaries  to  which  they  had  fled,  and  driven' 
with  whips  and  goads  into  the  castle  gaol.  The  ordinary 
retribution  followed.  The  citizens  implicated  in  the 
disturbance   were    excommunicated   by  the    Bishop  of 


Conflicts  between  University  and  City    45 

Lincoln  ;  some  of  tlie  worst  offenders  were  consigned  to 
the  Chancellor's  prison ;  two  bailiffs  were  removed  from 
their  office,  and  other  persons  were  banished  from 
Oxford.  A  '  final  agreement '  made  between  the  Uni- 
versity and  city  in  1298,  and  preserved  in  the  Univer- 
sity archives,  records  these  sentences,  together  with  a 
general  amnesty  for  all  other  offences  prior  to  the  agree- 
ment, and  a  renewed  promise  on  the  part  of  the  City  to 
respect  all  the  privileges  of  the  University. 

How  long  this  truce  lasted  we  have  no  means  of 
knowing,  but  no    equally  murderous    encounter   took 
Great  riot      P^^c^  at  Oxford  Until  St.  SchoUistica's   Day, 
of  1354         Y^\>.  10,  1354.>      Like  the  riot  of   1297,  it 
arose  out  of  a  trumpery  squabble,  but  was  carried  on 
for  three  days  with  all  the  savage  fury  of  an  Irish  faction 
fight.     Two  students  drinking  at  the  Swyndlestock,  or 
Mermaid,  tavern,  near  Carfax,  assaulted  the  landlord, 
and   were    forcibly   ejected.     Again   the    bell   of    St. 
Martin's  was  rung  by  order  of  the  mayor,  and  that  of 
St.  Mary's  by  order  of  the  Chancellor,  at  whom  an  arrow 
had  been  shot  by  one  of  the  citizens.     In  the  disturb- 
ances which  immediately  followed  no  one  seems  to  have 
been  mortally  v/ounded  ;  but  on  the  following  morning, 
notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  the  Chancellor,  ostensibly 
seconded  by  the  mayor,  a  general  battle  was  commenced 
by  the  citizens,  armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  who  drove 
the  scholars  out  of  the  Augustine  schools,  cleared  the 
whole  northern  suburb  of  their  enemies,  and  sent  m^s- 

'  In  the  meantime,  in  deference  to  complaints  made  by  the 
Chancellor,  the  King,  Edward  II.,  in  the  year  1315,  regulated  the 
price  of  provisions  in  the  Oxford  market,  as  well  as  in  the  markets 
of  other  towns. 


46  The  University  of  Oxford 

sengers  to  call  in  reinforcements  from  tlie  neiglibonring 
villages.  To  bar  the  entrance  of  these  auxiliaries,  the 
scholars  made  themselves  masters  of  the  northern  and 
eastern  gates;  J3ut  the  villagers,  making  a  circuit, 
poured  in  by  the  west  gate,  numbering,  it  is  said, 
nearly  2,000,  and  swept  the  streets  with  fierce  cries  of 
*  Slay,  slay  ! '  '  Havock  and  havock  ! '  The  gownsmen 
were  fairly  overborne,  and  not  only  that  evening  but  a 
great  part  of  the  next  day  was  spent  by  the  victorious 
townspeople  in  glutting  their  savage  vengeance,  pillag- 
ing hall  after  hall,  and  killing  or  wounding  any  scholar 
who  fell  into  their  hands ;  indeed,  if  we  are  to  believe 
Anthony  Wood,  they  went  so  far  as  to  scalp  more  than 
one  chaplain  v/hom  they  captured,  in  contempt  of  the 
priestly  tonsure. 

Such  an  outrage  roused  the  whole  clerical  order,  and 
the  Church  took  up  the  quarrel  of  the  University  as  her 
Interdict  owu.  After  duc  inquiry  an  interdict  was  laid 
and  penance  Y^^jOTi.  the  city  by  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  and 
all  the  municipal  authorities,  if  not  all  the  lay  in- 
habitants, were  visited  with  '  the  major  excommunica- 
tion.' They  appear  to  have  remained  under  ecclesiastical 
censure  for  some  three  years,  since  the  relaxation  of  the 
interdict  and  the  indenture  of  peace  between  the  Uni- 
versity and  city  bear  date  May  1357.  We  learn  from 
these  documents  that  at  last  the  city  made  a  c(5mplete 
and  humble  submission,  confessing  itself  deserving  of  a 
lil^e  excommunication  if  it  should  ever  again  sin  in  like 
manner,  and  binding  itself  to  accept  whatever  penance 
the  Bishop  should  lay  upon  it.  This  penance  consisted 
in  the  signature  of  a  compact  under  which  the  mayor, 
bailiffs,  and  sixty  leading  citizens  were  obliged  to  attend 


Conflicts  between  University  and  City    47 

mass  every  year  in  St.  Mary's  Churcli  on  St.  Scliolastica's 
Day,  and  to  offer  at  the  higli  altar  one  penny  each,  of 
which  sum  two-thirds  was  to  be  dist»ributed  at  once  bv 
the  proctors  among  poor  scholars.  The  city  also  under- 
took to  pay  one  hundred  marks  annually  to  the  Univer- 
sity by  way  of  compensation  on  the  same  day,  but  was 
relieved  from  this  obligation  by  a  deed  of  even  date, 
upon  condition  of  the  other  compact  being  duly  ful- 
filled. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  the  mayor  and  burgesses 
had  formally  resigned  their  ancient  franchises  into  the 
New  charter  King's  hauds,  and  the   University  received  a 

granted  by  1        j.  r         •    n  n    •  -j.- 

the  King  now  charter  or  privileges  and  immunities  as  a 
reward  for  the  indignities  to  which  it  had  been  subjected 
on  St.  Scholastica's  Day.  Under  this  charter,  the  Chan- 
cellor of  the  University  obtained  the  sole  control  over 
the  '  assize '  of  bread,  wine,  ale,  and  beer ;  over  the 
'  assay '  of  weights  and  measures,  with  jurisdiction  in  all 
cases  of  '  forestalling,'  '  regrating,'  and  selling  unwhole- 
some food  ;  over  the  assessment  of  rates  and  taxes,  the 
management  of  the  streets,  and  like  municipal  affairs 
He  was  also  empowered  to  expel  all  disorderly  students, 
and  the  provision  for  the  forfeiture  of  their  arms  shows 
how  generally  arms  were  carried  in  those  turbulent  days. 
Moreover,  though  he  was  not  as  yet  permitted  to  rescue 
and  sit  in  judgment  on  scholars  accused  of  treason, 
murder,  or  ^  mayhem,'  this  privilege  was  afterwards 
conceded  by  letters  patent  of  1'107  ;  but  it  was  provided 
that  academical  prisoners  should  be  tried  before  a  mixed 
jury  of  gownsmen  and  townspeople.  It  is  not  difficult 
to  understand  how  galling  such  concessions  must  have 
been  to  the  citizens  of  Oxford,  and  however  gross  the 


48  The  University  of  Oxford 

outrages  for  which  they  were  the  atonement,  we  can 
hardly  wonder  that  a  bitter  grudge  should  have  been 
cherished  by  the  City  against  the  University  so  long  as 
tbsy  remained  in  force. 


CHAPTER  y. 

THE   MONKS   AND    FRIARS    AT   OXFORD. 

The  history  of  the  monastic  settlements  at  Oxford,  and 
of  their  connection  with  the  University,  still  remains  to 
Bonedistines  be  w^ritteu,  but  euougli  is  known  to  shov\^  how 
tinians  great  a  part  they  played  in  its  earlier  life. 
For  some  time  before,  and  for  two  generations  after 
the  Norman  Conquest,- tlte  Benedictine  monks  of  St. 
Frideswide,  having  displaced  the  secular  canons,  seem 
to  have  been  the  only  body  of  regular  clergy  in  Oxford. 
In  the  monasteries  of  this  Order  had  been  sheltered 
most  of  the  scanty  learning  and  culture  which  survived 
the  night  of  the  Dark  Ages.  Having  been  well  nigh 
crushed  out  and  despoiled  of  their  few  literary  treasures 
in  two  Danish  invasions,  they  had  revived  and  extended 
their  influence  in  the  eleventh  century.  In  the  reign 
of  Henry  L,  Roger,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  is  said  to  have 
established  a  convent  of  Augustinian  canons  at  St. 
Frideswide's,  under  the  care  of  Guimond,  chaplain  to 
the  King,  and  soon  after  1129  they  were  reinforced  by 
a  society  of  the  same  Order  inhabiting  the  new  abbey 
founded  in  that  year  at  Oseney.  It  does  not  clearly 
appear  how  far  the  Benedictines  were  dislodged  from 


The  Monks  and  Friars  at  Oxford       49 

Oxford  by  the  new-comers,  but  they  probably  retained 
houses  there  for  their  students  until  they  obtained 
possession  of  Gloucester  Hall. 

If  the  cl austral  schools  of  the  Benedictines  were  the 
nursery  of  the  University,  a  still  more  powerful  impulse 
Rise  of         was  imparted  to  it  at  a  later  period  by  the 

mendicant  .  t  /-»    n  t 

Ciders  rise  or  the  two  great  mendicant  Orders,  both 

of  which  received  munificent  aid  from  Henry  III.  In 
1221  the  Dominicans,  or  Black  Friars,  first  appeared  in 
Oxford,  and  located  themselves  in  the  heart  of  the 
Jewry,  from  which  they  migrated  forty  years  afterwards 
into  a  new  monastery  by  the  water-gate  in  the  parish 
of  St.  Ebbe's,  near  the  modern  Speedwell  Street.  Two 
or  three  years  later  a  little  band  of  Franciscans,  or  Grej 
Friars,  after  a  temporary  residence  in  Canterbury  and 
jLondon,  found  their  way  to  Oxford,  where  they  were 
hospitably  entertained  by  the  Dominicans,  and  obtained 
the  loan  of  a  house  or  hall  in  the  parish  of  St.  Ebbe's. 
Notwithstanding  their  exemplary  self-denial  and  bound- 
less charity,  they  succeeded  in  accumulating  funds 
sufficient  to  build  a  magnificent  church  on  a  site  near 
Paradise  Gardens,  and  gpened  schools  of  their  own. 
After  the  lapse  of  another  generation — in  1251  or 
1252 — a  company  of  Augustinian  Friars  were  sent 
into  England  by  Lanfranc,  of  Milan,  and  a  detachment 
of  them  settled  on  the  southern  part  of  the  site  now 
occupied  by  Wadham  College,  purchased  for  them  by 
Sir  John  Handlow,  of  Boarstall.  Here  were  instituted 
those  famous  disputations  which,  under  the  name  of 
'  Austins,'  became  the  chief  school  of  academical  gram- 
mar teaching  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  survived  in  a 
degenerate  form  until  the  end  of  the  last  century.     In 

R 


50  The  Universtty  of  Oxford 

1254  tlie  Carmelite,  or  White  Friars,  took  np  tlieir 
abode  close  bj  the  Castle,  whence  they  were  transferred 
to  Beaumont  Palace  by  Edward  II.  in  1313.  In  1281 
or  1291  Edmund,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  founded,  or  re- 
founded,  the  Cistercian  Abbey  of  Re^ley,  and  esta- 
blished a  brotherhood  of  Trinitarians  without  the  East 
Gate.  Meanwhile  the  Benedictines  had  adopted  Glou- 
cester Hall  (now  Worcester  College)  as  a  seminary  for 
their  younger  members. 

Other  smaller  religious  fraternities  are  known  to 
have  existed  in  Oxford,  and  neighbouring  abbeys,  such 
cin,ustrai  ^s  thosc  of  Osenoy,  Eynsham,  Littlemore,  and 
schoo's.  Dorchester,  kept  houses  in  Oxford  for  the 
instruction  of  boys  and  young  men  under  their  special 
■  charge.  The  systematic  teaching  of  theology  w as  doubt- 
less the  m.ain  object  of  the  leFSons  given  in  the  old 
•claustral  schools,  and  the  curriculum  of  secular  educa- 
tion was  as  meagre  in  reality  as  it  was  imposing  in 
profession.  Yet  even  in  these  a  true  spirit  of  scholar- 
:ship  was  kept  alive,  and  the  great  teachers  of  the  men- 
dicant Orders  were  the  leading  exponents  of  the  new 
Aristotelian  philosophy,  whijC'h  inspired  the  subtlest 
intellects  of  the  thirteenth  century  with  the  power  of  a 
revelation.  These  Orders  possessed  a  great  advantage 
over  the  University  itself,  before  colleges  were  founded, 
in  occupying  handsome  and  spacious  buildings,  attrac- 
tive to  poor  students,  while  the  University  schools  or 
lecture  rooms  were  apparently  little  better  than  sheds, 
and  St.  Mary's  Church  was  the  one  edifice  capable  of 
•being  used  for  solemn  academical  functions. 

Two  causes  favoured  the  rapid  establishment  of  the 
mendicant  Orders,  and  especially  of  the  Franciscans,  in 


The  Monks  and  Friars  at  Oxford        51 

the  schools  of  Oxford.     In  the  year  1228    a  memor- 
able  conflict   took    place    between    ths    students    and 
,,,.^,,,:,„      citizens  in  Paris,  in  which  the  students  were 
Ti^tiir""''     grossly  maltreated.       Queen  Blanche  refused 
Eoberr^      them  redress,  but  Henry  III.  invited  them  to 
Grosteste       ^^^^^    -^    England,  and   Oxford,  as    well    as 
Cambridge,  benefited  largely  by  the  migration^  which 
ensued.'    These  Paris  students  were  mostly  the  disciples 
of  Dominican  or  Franciscan  professors,  some  of  whom 
seem  to  have  accompanied  them,  and  when  the  Domi- 
nicans again  became  paramount  at  Paris,  the  Franciscans 
retahied  a  stronghold  at  Oxford.    Here  they  owed  much 
to  the  powerful  aid  and  patronage  of  Robert  Grosteste, 
the  great  scholastical  and  ecclesiastical  reformer  of  the 
thirteenth  century.     The  fame  of  this  remarkable  man 
for  scholarship,  as  well  as  piety,  rests  upon  the  universal 
testimony  of  his  own  and  the  succeeding  age,  including 
that   of  Roger  Bacon,  himself  perhaps  the   brightest 
luminary  of  mediaeval  Oxford.     But  it  is  only  of  late 
that  his  influence  upon  the  University  has  been  fully 
understood.     It    was   indeed   an  extraordinary  chance 
which  elevated  to  the  See  of  Lincoln,  then  possessing  a 
paramount  jurisdiction  over  the  University  of  Oxford, 
a  man  who  had  been  the  foremost  of  Oxford  teachers, 
the  first  theological  lecturer  of  the  Franciscans.     It  was 
as    a   working   professor    and    Uedor   scholarum    that 
he  infused  new  life  into  University  studies  by  the  com- 
prehensive  vigour    and    originality   of    his    teaching. 
AVhen  he  commenced  his  stormy  episcopate  in  1235,  his 
attention  was  inevitably  directed  to  larger   questions 
then  disturbing  the  peace  of  Church  and  State,  but  his 

>  See  Chapter  I.  p.  9. 

is2 


52  The  University  of  Oxford 

spirit  animated  his  staunch  friend  and  successor,  Adam 
J^ilarsh  (oi  de  Marisco),  the  great  Franciscan  college- 
tutoi,  as  he  may  well  be  called.  It  is  the  glory  of  the 
Franciscans  to  have  produced  in  the  same  age  Adam 
Marsh  and  Roger  Bacon,  who  is  sometimes  claimed  as 
an  early  Fellow  of  Merton  College,  but  who  really 
belongs  to  a  period  immediately  preceding  the  founda- 
tion of  colleges.  Though  Roger  Bacon  attests  the  pre- 
mature degeneracy  of  the  mendicant  Orders  in  his  own 
lifetime,  though  his  bold  vindication  of  scientific  truth 
is  little  in  harmony  with  the  abject  submission  to 
Papal  authority  enjoined  upon  the  friars,  and  though  he 
was  actually  persecuted  by  his  own  community  for 
persevering  in  his  scientific  researches,  yet  he  was 
essentially  a  Franciscan.  It  was  in  obedience  to  his 
patron,  Clement  IV.,  that  he  compiled  his  three  great 
treatises,  embodying  a  knowledge  which  no  other  scholar 
of  his  time  possessed,  advocating  the  claims  of  mathe- 
matics and  language  against  the  frivolous  dialectics  of 
the  media3val  schools,  and  censuring  without  reserve  the 
organised  ignorance  which  then  usurped  the  place  of 
science  and  philosophy. 

It  is  extremely  difficult  to  ascertain  the  nature  of 
the  control  which  the  friars  acquired  over  academical 
ti"efria?s''at  ^^^"^'^^^'^^5  ^^  the  place,  if  any,  which  they  occu- 
universiT'^  pied  in  the  academical  system.  Of  their  pro- 
T'^\iS  selytising  activity  we  have  abundant  evidence, 
them  and  this  was  probably  the    motive    of  their 

constant  efforts  to  secure  the  privilege  of  readino-  and 
lecturing  in  their  own  schools,  instead  of  in  those  of  the 
University;  efforts  which  at  Paris  seem  to  have  been 
more  or  less  successful.     At  Oxford  they  are  clearly 


The  Monks  and  Friars  at  Oxford        53 

recocmised  as  reliofious  bodies  in  a  curious  ordinance  of 
1300,  which  enjoins  that  in  academical  processions  the 
Preaching  Friars  shall  walk  first,  the  White  Friars 
next,  and  the  Black  Friars  last.  It  is  scarcely  less 
significant  that,  although  in  1314  the  church  of  St. 
Marv  was  made  the  one  authorised  arena  of  academic 
ceremonies,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  religious  houses,  the 
four  Orders  were  represented  jointly  with  tlie  University 
on  the  Papal  Commission  which  delivered  this  decision. 
In  another  statute,  of  1326,  every  bachelor  of  arts  is 
required  to  dispute  once  and  respond  once  each  year 
before  the  Augustins  (ctpud  August inenses),  from  which 
it  must  be  inferred  that  this  Order  had  already  acquired 
almost  a  monopoly  of  grammar-teaching. 

But  the  lay  and  secular  element  in  the  University 
alwavs  rebelled  ao-ainst  the  encroachments  of  the  friars, 
and  was  destined  to  prevail.  It  is  a  suggestive  fact 
that  Walter  de  Merton  rigorously  excluded  every  '  re- 
ligious '  person  or  member  of  a  monastic  Order  from  the 
benefits  of  his  foundation.  Soon  afterwards  the  Uni- 
versity took  alarm.  In  1358^  we  have  a  trenchant 
statute  against  the  abduction  of  boys  under  eighteen  by 
the  mendicant  Orders,  which  shows  how  great  a  jealousy 
they  had  provoked  among  the  secular  clergy  of  the 
Universit}^,  for  whose  special  benefit  Merton  and  other 
colleges  were  founded.  This  statute  expressly  recites 
that  noblemen  and  commoners  are  afraid  to  send  their 
sons  to  the  University,  lest  they  should  be  seduced  by 
the  mendicant  friars  into  joining  their  Order    before 

'  This  is  the  riate  assigned  to  the  statute  by  ]\Ir.  Anstey  in  liis 
Munimenta  Academica,  on  the  authority  of  Anthony  Wood,  sup- 
ported by  historical  probability. 


54  The  University  of  Oxford 

arriving   at   years    of  discretion ;    and   that   by    tliese 
practices  the  peace  of  the  University  is  often  disturbed 
and  its   numbers  diminished.     It  is  therefore  enacted 
that  if  any  mendicant  friar  thus  seduces  or  causes  to  be 
seduced  any  youth    under  eighteen  years    of  age,   or 
procures  his  removal   from  Oxford  with  intent  that  he 
may  be  received  elsewhere  into  a  religious  Order,  no 
graduate  of  the  cloister  or  society  to  w^hich  the  offender 
belongs  shall  be  allowed  to  deliver  or  attend  lectures  in 
Oxford  during  the  year  next  ensuing.     Another  statute 
of  the  same  date  is  apparently  aimed  at  the  attempt  of 
friars  to  lecture  on  logic  before  undergoing  the  regular 
yearl}^    course    of  disputations.     This   is   immediately 
followed  by  the  public  recantation  extorted  from  a  friar 
who  had  affirmed,  among  other  startling  propositions, 
that  tithes  belonged  more  properly  to  mendicants  than 
to  rectors  of  churches,  and  that  the  University  was  a 
school  of  heresv.     Another   friar  who  had  disnarao-ed 
the    School   of  Arts  was  compelled  to  apologize  with 
equal  humility.    Still  the  power  of  the  monastic  Orders 
continued  to  be   formidable,  and   at  Cambridge  they 
seem  to  have  ultimately  carried  their  point  in  obtaining 
exemption  from  academical  exercises  in  Arts  for  their 
theological  students ;  while  at  Oxford  there  are  many 
instances  of  college  fellows  joining  their  ranks. 

In  1365  the  Pope  entered  the  lists  against  the 
University  on  behalf  of  the  friars,  and  directed  the 
interven-  Arclibishop  of  Cauteibury  and  bishops  to  in- 
rore^'ilnd  ^  sist  upon  the  Chancellor's  procuring  the  repeal 
the  King  of  the  obnoxious  statutes.  In  the  meantime, 
however,  the  intervention  of  the  King  and  Parliament 
was  invoked  by  memorials  from  both  the  Universities  and 


The  Monks  and  Friars  at  Oxford        55 

tlie  four  mendicant  Orders.  In  consequence  of  this  an 
ordinance  was  made,  with  the  assent  of  Parliament,  by 
which  the  statutes  against  the  admission  of  scholars 
into  these  Orders  were  relaxed,  but  all  bulls  and 
j)rocesses  to  be  procured  by  the  friars  against  the  Uni- 
versities from  the  Court  of  Eome  were  prohibited  and 
declared  void.  Still  the  feud  continued.  One  main 
source  of  WycliTs  popularity  in  the  Universitj^  was  his 
unsparing  denunciation  of  the  Mendicants,  and  their 
decline  was  among  the  most  permanent  results  of  the 
movement  which  he  initiated.  But  other  causes  were 
at  work  to  undermine  their  influence.  The  rise  of  the 
colleges  was,  in  fact,  the  rise  of  the  secular  clergy,  and 
in  organising  itself  more  completely,  the  University 
naturally  outgrew  its  dependence  on  the  missionarj'- 
zeal  for  education  which  had  been  its  life-blood  in  the 
thirteenth  century. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE   UNIVERSITY   IN   THE   FIFTEENTH   CENTURY. 

The  ofolden  ao-e  of  media3val  Oxford  had  culminated 
in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  the  fifteenth  century 
Decline  iii     ushered  in  a  period  of  intellectual  stasfnation, 

numbers  .  .  .  n 

atidst-idies  which  lasted  for  at  least  sixty  years.  Many 
causes,  both  external  and  internal,  combined  to  pro- 
duce this  result.  The  nation  itself,  exhausted  by  the 
vain  effort  to  conquer  France,  and  roused  from  its  long 


56  The  University  of  Oxford 

dream  of  Imperial  ambition,  was  hopeless  and  disheart- 
ened until  it  was  plunged  into  the  most  sanguinary  of 
English  Civil  Wars.      The  ecclesiastical  independence 
of  the    English    Church,  which    had    defied   the  most 
powerful  of  medigeval  Popes,  and  had  been  fortified  by 
the  recent  Statutes  of  Provisors  and  Praemunire,  was 
seriously  threatened    by  the    growth  of  Ultramontane 
influences,  while  its  revenues  were  assailed  by  democratic 
agitation.     The  revolutionary  petition  of  the  Commons, 
addressed  to  Henry  IV.,  for  the  wholesale  appropriation 
of  Church  property  to  secular  and  charitable  uses,  boded 
no  good  to  Universities,  which  ranked  as  ecclesiastical 
bodies,  and  were  taxed  with  the  clergy,  though  anti- 
monastic  in  their  corporate  spirit  and  in  the  organisa- 
tion of  their  colleges.     Moreover,  this  petition  had  been 
speedily  followed  by  the  actual  confiscation  of  property 
belonging  to  alien  priories.    Soon  afterwards,  the  French 
"Wars  and  Wars  of  the  Roses  attracted  into  camps  many 
a  student  who   might   otherwise   have  frequented  the 
University  lecture  rooms ;  the  law  no  longer  drew  all 
its  recruits  from  University  clerks;  and  even  the  in- 
cumbents of  English   livings  were  sometimes  chosen 
irom  the  ranks  of  the  regular  clergy  without  University 
training.     It  is  possible  that  the  rise  and  spread  of  the 
Wycliifite  movement  at  Oxford  may  have  prejudiced  it 
in  the  eyes  of  the  English  hierarchy,  as  it  certainly  did 
in  those  of  the  Popes.    At  all  events,  there  is  abundant 
evidence  both  of  the  fact  that  candidates  for  Holy  Orders 
resorted  to  Oxford  in  diminished  numbers,  and  of  the 
construction  which  the  University  authorities  put  on 
that  fact.     In  1417,  and  again  in  1438,  the  Archbishop 
and  Bishops  in  Convocation  issued  an  appeal  to  patrons 


University  in  the  Fifteenth  Century    57 

of  benefices,  calling  upon  tliem  to  give  a  preference  to 
University  graduates.  The  memorial  addressed  to 
Convocation  on  behalf  of  the  University  in  1438  com- 
plains that  her  halls  were  deserted,  and  that  not  one 
thousand  remained  out  of  the  many  thousands  reported 
to  have  attended  the  schools  of  Oxford  in  the  last  age — 
when,  as  we  learn  from  a  Royal  charter  (of  1355),  '  a 
multitude  of  nobles,  gentry,  strangers,  and  others  con- 
tinually flocked  thither.'  It  is  stated  that  in  1450 
only  twenty  out  of  two  hundred  schools  which  had  once 
been  filled  continued  to  be  used  for  purposes  of  educa- 
tion. A  few  years  later  we  find  a  license  granted  to 
poor  scholars,  authorising  them  to  beg  for  alms — a 
practice  of  which  Sir  Thomas  More  speaks  as  if  it  were 
not  obsolete  in  his  own  time.  It  was  to  meet  the  neces- 
sities of  these  destitute  students  that  Archbishop 
Chichele  established  a  new  University  Chest;  and  it 
was  for  the  relief  of  the  jpaupeves  et  incUgcMes,  no  less 
than  for  the  support  of  the  secular  clergy,  whose  decline 
at  Oxford  is  amply  attested  by  his  charter,  that  he 
afterwards  founded  the  great  college  of  All  Souls. 

Notwithstanding  this  decline,  and  the  undoubted 
decay  of  learning,  we  must  not  exaggerate  either  the 
University  actual  dcgcueracy  of  the  University  or  its 
the  coniiciis  loss  of  reputation  in  Europe.     No  doubt,  the 

of  Couitance  -,  ,  .  . 

audEasie  JB  reuch  Wars  tended  to  weaken  its  ancient 
alliance  with  the  great  University  of  Paris,  and  the 
growth  of  a  native  English  literature  under  the  in- 
spiration of  Chaucer  and  Wyclif  may  well  have  con- 
tributed to  its  isolation,  until  it  came  under  the  spell  of 
the  Italian  Renaissance.  But  it  is  an  error  to  assert 
that  Oxford  was  '  nowhere  to  be  found   in   the  great 


58  The  University  of  Oxford 

Cliurcli  Councils  of  tlie  fifteenth  century.'^  On  tlie 
contrary,  it  was  very  ably  represented,  both  at  Constance 
in  1414  and  at  Basle  in  1431.  At  the  former  of  these 
Councils,  Henry  de  Abendon,  afterwards  Warden  of 
Merf:on,  defended  with  signal  effect  the  claim  of  Eng- 
land to  precedence  over  Spain,  and  of  Oxford  to  prece- 
dence over  Salamanca.  In  order  to  defray  the  expense 
of  sending  '  orators '  to  Basle,  the  University,  in  its 
poverty,  solicited  a  contribution, '  were  it  ever  so  small,' 
from  the  Convocation  of  the  Clergy.  It  found  a  worthy 
delegate,  however,  in  John  Kemp,  also  of  Merton,  after- 
wards xlrchbishop '  of  Canterbury,  who,  at  the  subse- 
quent Council  of  Florence,  was  made  a  Cardinal  by  the 
Pope. 

Nor  must  we  forget  the  great  collegiate  institutions 
which  owe  their  origin  to  this  obscure  period.    The  first  of 
Foiv.uuitioii    these,  Lincoln  College,  was  founded  in  1427,  on 
andSfsouis'  ^  much  humblcr  scale  than  New  College,  by 
coueges        Richard  Flemmyng,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  v/ho, 
having  been  a  zealous  promoter,  became  a  fanatical  oppo- 
nent of  AYyclifs  doctrines,  and  distinguished  himself  at 
the  Council  of  Siena  by  attacks  against  the  Hussites.    His 
main  object  was  to  extirpate  the  Wyclifiite  heresy,  and 
he  specially  provided  that  any  Fellow  tainted  with  these 
heresies  was  '  to  be  cast  out,  like  a  diseased  sheep,  from 
the  fold  of  the  college.'     All  Souls,  founded  in  1438  by 
Archbishop  Chichele,  was   a  far  grander  monument  of 
academical  piety  and  was  almost  unique  in  its  consti- 
tution.     The   college    was  specially  designed  to  be  a 
chantry,  but  it  was  also  to  be  a  place  of  study,  and  was 
to  some  extent  modelled  on  New  College,  where  Chichele 
*  Ruber's  English  Universities,  vol.  1,  ch.  vi.,  sect.  80. 


University  in  the  Fifteenth  Century    59 

himself  was  educated.  There  were  to  be  forty  scholars, 
being  clerks,  bound  to  study  without  intermission, 
twenty-four  of  whom  were  to  cultivate  Arts  and  philo- 
sophy or  theology,  and  sixteen  the  canon  or  civil  law. 
Magdalen  College  was  founded  in  J  457  by  William  of 
Waynflete,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  upon  a  plan  borrovred 
from  New  College,  but  without  the  peculiar  feature  of 
organic  connection  with  a  public  school,  though  its 
founder  had  been  himself  the  head-master  both  of  Eton 
and  of  Winchester.  There  are  clear  traces  in  the 
statutes  of  the  coming  Renaissance.  Theology  remains 
supreme,  as  at  New  College,  but  moral  and  natural 
philosophy  take  the  place  of  civil  and  canon  law. 
Grammar  is  preferred  to  logic,  and  even  Latin  verses 
are  recognised.  Moreover,  the  lecturers  in  divinity  and 
the  two  philosophies  are  to  instruct  not  only  the  college 
but  the  whole  University. 

While  the  collegiate  system  was  thus  expanding, 
and  classical  scholarship  was  beginning  to  germinate 
ExteuMoiiof  under  its  shelter,  the  resources  of  the  Uni- 

University 

bui  rii-.gs:     versity  were  enriched  by  two  important  acces- 

the  Divinity       .  ^  ''  ^ 

School  and     sious — tuc  edifico  of  the    Old    Schools,    and 

the  Bodleian      ^  %   •-, 

Library  the  Library  presented  by  the  '  good '  Duke 
Humphry  of  Gloucester.  In  the  early  part  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  thirty-two  '  schools '  were  ranged 
along  School  Street,  between  the  west  end  of  St.  Mary's 
and  the  city  wall,  near  the  present  theatre.  These 
schools  had  superseded  the  simple  chambers  which  the 
University  had  a  prescriptive  right  to  hire  in  the  houses 
Oil  private  citizens.  Many  of  them  belonged  to  Oseney 
Abbey,  and  in  the  year  143U  some  fourteen  of  these, 
being  ruinous,  were   taken  down   and  rebuilt    by  the 


6o  The  University  of  Oxford 

Abbot,   Thomas   Hokenorton.      The  fabric  erected   by 
him  is  described  as  a  long  pile  of  stone  masonry,  wholly 
destitute  of  architectural  effect,  consisting  of  two  stories, 
and  divided  into  ten  schools,  five  above  and  five  below, 
which,  however,  possessed  no  monopoly  of  University 
lectures  or  exercises,  since  these  continued  to  be  carried 
on  in  other  public  schools,  if  not  in  private  lecture 
rooms,  despite  prohibitory  statutes.     One  reason  why 
School  Street  was  selected  as  the  privileged  quarter  for 
lecturing  was  doubtless  that  it  immediately  adjoined 
St.  Mary's  Church,  which  contained  the  old  Congrega- 
tion-house, in  which  the  University  held  all  its  solemn 
meetings,  and  which,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  had  served  at 
once  as  the  court-house,  the  legislative  chamber,  the 
examination-room,   the    public    treasury,   the    hall    of 
assembly,   and   the   place    of  worship,    for   the   whole 
University.      In   this  church  theological  lectures  had 
now  been  given  for  a  century,  since  the  Dominicans  and 
J^Vanciscans  had  been  compelled  to  abandon  their  practice 
of  teaching  divinity  to  University  students  within  their 
own  walls,  and  the  University  could  afford  to  despise 
the   rivalry  of  other   religious  Orders   lodged   in   the 
suburbs,  at  a  distance  from  School  Street.     In  1426  or 
1427  a  vacant  plot  was  purchased  by  the  University 
from  Balliol  College,  and  in  1480  the  present  Divinity 
School  was  finally  opened  for  the  greatest  of  the  facul- 
ties,    by   the    aid  of    liberal   contributions   from    the 
Benedictine  monks.  Archbishop  Chichele,  several  cathe- 
dral   bodies,   Duke   Humphry,    and   the   executors    of 
Cardinal   Beaufort,    Archbishop    Kemp,    and   Edmund 
Duke  of  Somerset  of  1447.     In  the  meantime,  Duke 
Humphry,  acceding  to  a  suggestion  from  the  University, 


University  in  the  Fifteenth  Century    6i 

had  initiated  tlie  erection  of  a  Public  Library  over  the 
Divinity  School.  The  building  was  retarded  by  the 
withdrawal  of  the  masons,  under  Royal  mandate,  for 
works  at  Windsor  and  Eton,  nor  was  it  completed  till 
1480,  by  the  aid  of  Thomas  Kemp,  Bishop  of  London, 
who  contributed  1,000  marks,  and  has  been  regarded  as 
a  second  founder.  The  original  collection  of  books  pre- 
sented by  Duke  Humphry  to  the  University  in  1439 
consisted  of  129  volumes  only,  but  it  was  supplemented 
by  a  second  gift  in  1443.  Still,  the  whole  University 
Librar}^,  comprising  the  previous  legacies  of  Angerville 
and  Cobham,  is  said  to  have  contained  no  more  than 
500  volumes  when  it  was  dispersed  at  the  Reformation. 
Duke  Humphry  is  also  said  to  have  instituted  a  pro- 
fessorial Chair  for  Arts  and  Philosophy,  which,  however, 
never  came  into  operation,  perhaps  because  the  means 
were  not  forthcoming  to  endow  it  adequately.  For  it  is 
certain  that  at  this  period  the  resources  of  the  University 
were  miserably  small,  and  chiefly  wasted  in  the  enor- 
mous expense  of  suits  at  the  Court  of  Rome,  whose 
appellate  jurisdiction  it  had  always  respected,  and  whose 
immediate  intervention  it  often  invoked.^ 

The  mediaeval  system  of  academical  studies  and 
examinations  may  be  considered  to  have  reached  its 
Final  oro-ani-  ii^^tiirity  in  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
meSivai  ^^  ^^^  period  the  University  enjoyed  com- 
Smina-^'^'^  parative  repose,  and  its  constitution  was  fully 
tious  organised,  though  its  vigour,  as  we  have  seen, 

was  grievously  impaired.      Nine  colleges  had  already 

'  An  instance  of  this  may  be  found  in  the  care  taken  by 
Archbishop  Chichele,  in  1439,  to  procure  a  Bull  from  Pope 
Eugenius  IV.  for  ihe  foundation  of  All  Souls'  College. 


62  The  University  of  Oxford 

been  founded,  and,  by  tbe  statute  passed  in  1432  for 
the  suppression  of  '  cliamberdekyns,'  all  members  of  the 
University  were  required  to  be  inmates  of  some  college 
or  hall,  except  those  who  should  be  specially  licensed 
by  the  Chancellor  to  live  in  lay  houses.  By  another 
statute  of  the  same  year,  the  discipline  of  the  University 
had  been  further  secured  by  a  peremptory  rule  that  all 
principals  of  halls  should  be  graduates,  or  qualified  by 
learning  and  character  to  rule  their  respective  house- 
holds.^ The  proctorial  authority  was  now  firmly 
established  under  the  ordinance  of  1343.  Courses  of 
public  lectures  were  constantly  delivered  on  all  the 
subjects  recognised  by  the  University  in  the  official 
schools,  and  private  instruction  was  supplied  to  their 
own  inmates  by  the  various  colleges  and  halls. 

The  institution  of  an  University  curriculum,  or  a  set 
course  of  books  or  subjects  to  be  studied  by  candidates 
TT  .      ■.      for  deg'rees  in  the  various  faculties,  mav  be 

University  c^  '  >' 

curriculum  ^p^ted  froui  the  statutes  given  to  the  Uni- 
versity of  Paris  by  the  Cardinal  Legate,  Robert  de 
Courcon,  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
The  Oxford  curriculum  seems  to  have  varied  but  little 
between  the  age  of  the  schoolm.en  and  that  of  the 
Renaissance.  It  is  practically  certain  that  admission 
to  the  University  was  guarded  by  no  entrance  examina.- 
tion.  Grammar  was  treated  as  the  essential  foundation 
of  all  knowledge,  and  the  University  abounded  in 
grammar  schools,  but  the  superstructure  raised  upon 
this  foundation  appears  to  have  been  mainly  logical. 
Both  grammar  and  logic,  however,  represented  accom- 

'  These  statutes  were  little  more  than  repetitions  or  confirmations 
of  ordinances  made  by  King  Henry  V.  in  1421. 


University  in  the  Fifteenth  Century    63 

plisliments  whicli  in  that  age  were  supposed  to  be  u?e- 
ful — grammar    as    giving   tlie    power    of  reading    and 
writing  Latin ;  logic,  snj^plemented  by  rhetoric,  as  the 
instrument  of  controversy  and  persuasion.     Since  pro- 
ficiency in  all  studies  was  tested  by  disputation,  logic 
was  naturally  elevated  into  a  position  of  supremacy.    A 
statute  passed  in  1408  required  all  candidates  for  what 
is    now    called    a    B.A.    degree   to    become    '  sophistce 
f/enerales,'  and  practise  themselves  in  logical    disputa- 
tions for  a  year  at  least  in  the  'Parvisum,'  or  class- 
rooms for  beginners,  before  offering  themselves  for  the 
preliminary  ordeal  of  Responsions.     This  examination 
seems  to  have    consisted    in    arguing    and    answering 
questions  on  a  given  thesis  (i^espondere  ad  quccstionem  or 
de  qucestione),  and  the  student  who  had  passed  it  at  the 
end  of  his  first  vear  was  still  bound  under  this  statute  to 
hear  lectures  on  prescribed  books  in  three  branches  of 
the  Faculty  of  Arts — logic,  mathematics,  and  grammar, 
which  always  ranked  lowest  in  the  scale  of  studies.    The 
exercises  which  constituted  '  determination ' '  were  con- 
ducted during  Lent  in  the  schools  of  Masters  apparently 
selected   by   the    candidates   themselves,    for   the   last 
clause  in  the   statute  actually  protects   them    against 
impressment    or    solicitation    by    Masters    desirous    of 
forcing  them  into  their  own  schools.     The  examination 
was  mainly,  if  not  exclusively,  logical  and  grammatical, 
the  duty  of  the  examining  master  being  to  stop  the 

'  The  meaning  of  'determination '  is  still  the  subject  of  dispute. 
Mr.  "Boase,  in  the  preface  to  his  liegistrr  of  the  University  of  Oxford, 
explains  it  thus:  'After  taking  his  degree,  the  bachelor  "deter- 
mined," that  is,  instead  of  disputing  himself,  he  presided  over 
disputations,  and  gave  out  his  determination  or  decision  on  the 
questions  discussed.' 


64  The  University  of  Oxford 

candidate  if  lie  sliould  wander  into  other  subjects  or  use 
unsound  arguments.  Nothing  is  said  in  this  statute 
of  candidates  once  admitted  to  determine  being  rejected 
for  incompetence,  but  there  are  rules  to  prevent  their 
being  admitted  at  all,  unless  duly  qualified  by  character, 
ability,  age,  and  even  stature. 

The  leading  statute  which  regulated  the  more  im- 
portant act  of  'inception,'  or  admission  to  the  M.A. 
statute  of  degree,  was  passed  in  1431.  It  opens  with 
/atiu'^^^fu-  ^  somewhat  pedantic  and  solemn  preamble, 
ceptiou'  setting  forth  that  everyone  who  aspires  to  be 
entitled  a  Master  or  Professor  of  Arts  ought  to  have 
undergone  a  complete  training  in  the  seven  sciences 
and  the  three  philosophies.  These  seven  sciences  were 
no  other  than  the  old  Trivials  and  Quadrivials  which 
had  become  the  standard  subjects  of  education  ever  since 
the  revival  of  learning  under  Charlemagne — grammar, 
rhetoric  and  logic ;  arithmetic,  music,  geometry  and 
astronomy.  The  three  so-called  philosophies  were 
natural,  moral,  and  metaphysical.  The  statute  proceeds 
to  ordain  that  all  who  are  presented  for  '  inception ' 
shall  have  satisfied  all  the  requirements  for  'determina- 
tion,' and  shall  also  have  regularly  and  earnestly 
attended  lectures  in  the  seven  branches  of  knowledge 
here  called  the  seven  liberal  Arts,  as  well  as  in  the  three 
philosophies,  during  eight  years  for  at  least  thirty 
'  reading '  days   in  each  year,^  according  to  a  certain 

'  This  seems  the  most  probable  interpretation  of  a  somewhat 
obscure  passage  in  the  statute,  which  speaks  of  ocio  annorum  termi' 
nos,  and  afterwards  of  tres  terminos  or  duo  terminos  amii,  as  if 
ferminns  signified  a  period,  and  not  an  academical  Term.  It  would 
be  almost  impossible  to  attend  all  the  lectures  here  required  for  thirty 
reading  days  in  each  Term. 


University  in  the  Fifteenth  Century    65 

graduated  order  prescribed  in  the  statute  itself.  Thus, 
grammar  was  to  occupy  one  year,  rhetoric  three  years, 
logic  three  years,  arithmetic  one  year,  music  one  year, 
geometry  two  years,  astronomy  two  years,  natural  philo- 
sophy, moral  philosophy,  and  metaphysical  philosophy 
three  years  each.  The  orthodox  text-books  in  which  each 
subject  is  to  be  studied  are  specifically  mentioned,  and 
include  Priscian,  Boethius,  and  Euclid,  but,  above  all, 
Aristotle,  who  is  recognised  as  the  supreme  authority  on 
rhetoric,  logic,  and  all  three  philosophies. 

Having  fulfilled  all  these  conditions,  and  procured 
all  the  necessary  certificates  of  his  moral  and  intellectual 
Duties  of  competence,  the  bachelor  applying  for  a  M.  A. 
mfst"ers  degree  was  presented  before  the  Chancellor 
and  Proctors  in  Congregation,  when,  after  taking  certain 
oaths,  one  of  which  bound  him  not  to  foment  quarrels 
between  Northerners  and  Southerners,  he  was  officially 
licensed  to  deliver  lectures.  On  this  ceremony,  which 
constituted  him  a  Master  of  Arts,  the  statute  of  1431 
is  silent,  but  we  know  from  other  sources  that  a  M.A. 
degree  was  chiefly,  if  not  exclusively,  sought  as  a  passport 
to  'inception.'  This  inception,  which  involved  much  ex- 
pense *  and  was  attended  by  many  formalities,  consisted 
in  taking  possession  of  a  school,  and  solemnly  commencing 
a  course  of  lectures  as  a  teaching  or  '  regent '  master.  It 
is  provided  in  the  statute  that  at  the  end  of  every  term  (or 
year)  the  proctors  shall  ascertain  the  number  of  regent 
masters    willing    to    lecture,    and   shall    divide   them. 

>  It  is  stated  that,  so  far  back  as  1268,  the  inceptors  in  civil  law 
were  numerous  enough  to  overflow  the  Oxford  hostels,  and  to  be 
Quartered  in  Oseney  Abbey.  In  1434  the  expense  to  be  incurred  in 
scholastic  banquets  on  incex>tion  in  arts  was  limited  by  statute. 

V 


66  The  University  of  Oxford 

according  to  seniority,  into  ten  companies  as  nearly 
equal  in  number  as  possible.  The  junior  company,  with 
the  superintendents  of  grammar  schools,  are  to  lecture 
in  grammar,  and  the  rest  are  apparently  to  be  so  ranged 
in  an  ascending  scale  that  the  highest  subjects  may 
be  assigned  to  the  seniors.  It  is  expressly  ordained,  in 
-order  to  exclude  forbidden  lore,  that  none  shall  lecture 
in  any  books  except  those  allowed  by  statute.  The 
-mode  of  lecturing  is  also  strictly  prescribed.  First,  the 
text  is  to  be  read  out,  then  its  substance  and  meaning 
.are  to  be  explained ;  afterwards  special  passages  are  to 
.be  noted,  and  lastl}',  questions  are  to  be  raised  and  dis- 
'<;ussed,  but  only  such  as  naturally  arise  out  of  the  text, 
'SO  that  no  prohibited  sciences  may  be  taught.  Such 
-provisions  for  public  lecturing  were  necessary  before 
•either  an  University  professoriate  or  a  system  of  college 
■tuition  was  developed,  and  all  regent  masters,  unless 
^exempted,  were  statutably  bound  to  lecture  for  nearly 
itwo  years  after  inception.  During  this  period  they 
were  also  specially  bound  to  attend  the  University 
'*  Congregation,'  by  which  degrees  were  granted,  and 
-even  when  they  became  non-regents  they  were  liable 
ito  be  summoned  for  this  purpose  by  the  University 
Bedel,  who  sounded  a  bell  in  order  to  make  a  quorum ; 
whence  that  assembly  was  technically  called  the  House 
'of  Regents  and  Non- Regents.  In  the  earliest  times, 
when  it  consisted  of  teachers  only,  it  had  been  the  sole 
legislature  of  the  University.  It  seems,  however,  that 
when  deo^rees  were  more  and  more  sousrht  as  titles  of 
ihonour  or  certificates  of  proficiency,  and  graduates  fre- 
'quently  obtained  exemptions  from  the  duty  of  teaching, 
another  more  select  body,  called  the  '  Black  Congrega- 


University  in  the  Fifteenth  Century    6j 

tion,'  assumed  the  riglit  of  discussing  measures  to  be 
afterwards  laid  before  the  '  Great  Congregation,'  as  it 
then  came  to  be  called,  or  '  Convocation,'  as  it  was  called 
in  later  times,  when  the  preliminary  assembly  had  at 
last  usurped  the  name  of  '  Congregation.' 

The  faculty  of  Arts,  however,  was  but  one  of  several, 
though  it  embraced  the  great  majority  of  graduates, 
Residence  ^^^  maintained  an  undisputed  supremacy, 
in u*lehi^her  ^^^^  *  scicuce '  of  grammar  always  filled  a  sub- 
facuties  ordinate  position,  and  its  requirements  were 
less  onerous,  but  in  all  the  superior  faculties  of  civil  op 
canon  law,  medicine,  and  theology,  the  ordinar}^  rule 
was  to  have  gi-aduated  first  in  Arts,  and  afterwards  to 
have  responded,  disputed,  and  determined  in  the  studies 
of  the  faculty  before  incepting  and  receiving  the  final  de- 
gree of  Master  or  Doctor,  then  practically  synonymous. 
Even  those  who  had  graduated  in  Arts  were  required  to 
study  theology  five  years  before  their  '  opponency  '  or 
degree-examination,  while  those  who  had  not  so  gradu- 
ated were  compelled  to  go  through  a  seven  3'ears'  course ; 
and  in  either  case  two  years  more  of  probation  were 
exacted  before  permission  could  be  obtained  to  lecture 
on  the  '  Sentences.'  Thus  an  Oxford  career  occupied 
far  more  of  life  in  those  days  than  in  our  own,  and 
academical  residence  certainly  extended  over  a  greater 
part  of  each  year.  It  was  a  natural  consequence  that; 
University  influences  left  a  far  deeper  impress  on  the 
characters  and  minds  of  the  students,  and  that  such 
mov^ements  as  the  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation 
passed  through  a  long  period  of  academical  incubation 
before  they  acquired  a  hold  over  the  mass  of  the  nation. 


f3 


6S  The  University  of  Oxford 


'.  CHAPTER  YII. 

THE    KENAISSANCE,    THE    REFORMATION,    AND   THE   TUDOR 

PERIOD. 

The  reign  of  Edward  IV.  may  be  regarded  as  a  singularly 

-  blank  period  in  University  annals.     The  Wars  of  tbe 

Revival  of  I^^ses,  in  wliich  feudalism  perislied  by  its  own 

'  SkelTtiiT^  Hand,  but   whicli    left    so    few    traces   on   the 

fifteenth  *^    national  life,  hardly  disturbed  the  academical 

century      repose ;    and  the  obscurity  which  hangs  over 

i  the  next  chapter  in  the   history  of  the    nation   rests 

'  equally  upon  that  of  the  University.     But  a  gradual 

..  recovery  was  in  progress,  and  soon  yielded  visible  fruits. 

•=:The  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  found  the  University 

•..of  Oxford  far  more  comjolete  in  its  outward  structure,  if 

•  somewhat  less  vigorous  in  its  inward  life,  than  it  had 

been  two  centuries  earlier.     It  was  no  longer  a  loose 

aggregate  of  students  under  the  paramount  jurisdiction 

of  a  bishop  resident  at  Lincoln,  but  an  organised  insti- 

:.  tution,  with  a  government  of  its  own,  under  the  special 

protection  of  the  Crown,  and  capable  of  being  used  as  a 

-powerful    engine  for  effecting  or  resisting  changes  in 

Church  or  State.     While  the  old  order  was   yielding 

place  to  new,  and  the  fountains  of  scholastic  thought 

..were  running  dry,  there  had  been  a  marked  decay  in 

.  academical  energy,  and  the  declining  number  of  students 

attested   the  decreased  activity  of  teaching.     But  the 

revival  of  classical  learning,  promoted  by  the  dispersion 

of  Greek  scholars  after  the  fall  of  Constantinople,  was 


The  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation    69' 

accompanied  or  followed  by  that  marvellous  series  of 
events  which  divides  modern  from  mediaeval  history — 
the  invention  of  printing,  aided  by  the  improvement  of 
paper-making ;  the  discovery  of  America  ;  the  consolida- 
tion of  the  European  monarchies ;  and  the  Reformation 
itself.  The  first  effect  of  the  enthusiasm  kindled  by 
these  new  influences  was  to  invigorate  the  University  j 
it  was  not  until  their  secondary  effects  were  felt  that  a 
reaction  manifested  itself. 

The  great  educational  movement  which  sprang  from 
the  Reformation  was  essentially  popular  rather  than 
Checked  academical,  and  by  no  means  tended  to 
Reformation  incrcase  the  relative  importance  of  the  Uni- 
versities. The  cause  of  this  is  not  difficult  to  discover. 
When  the  only  books  were  manuscripts,  the  Universities 
and  the  very  few  other  institutions  which  possessed 
large  collections  of  manuscripts  attracted  the  whole 
literary  class  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  When 
instruction  in  the  sciences  was  only  to  be  obtained  from 
the  lips  of  a  living  teacher,  and  when  schools  hardly 
existed  elsewhere,  except  in  connection  with  cathedrals 
or  monasteries,  the  lecture  rooms  of  Oxford  were  thronged 
with  students  of  all  ages,  and  represented  almost  the 
entire  machinery  of  national  education.  When  the 
Church  ruled  supreme  over  the  wide  realm  of  thought, 
and  learning  was  the  monopoly  of  '  clerics,'  the  great 
ecclesiastical  stronghold  of  Oxford  far  surpassed  the 
metropolis  itself  as  an  intellectual  centre.  When  Latin 
was  the  one  language'  of  scholars,  and  English  litera- 
ture scarcely  existed,  the  academical  masters  of  Latinity, 
especially  as  they  were  carefully  trained  in  disputation, 
maintained  a  peerless  supremacy  over  their  less  favoured 


70  The  University  of  Oxford 

countrymen.  In  the  larger  and  freer  life  whicli  took 
its  birth  from  the  Eeformation,  the  exclusive  privileges 
of  the  Universities  became  inevitably  depreciated,  and 
their  degeneracy  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth 
century  presents  a  humiliating  contrast  with  their 
ascendency  in  the  fourteenth.  The  dissolution  of 
monasteries,  the  high-handed  visitations  of  the  Tudor 
Sovereigns,  and  the  diversion  of  the  national  energies 
into  new  careers,  operated  concurrently  to  empty  Oxford 
of  students,  nor  was  it  until  near  the  end  of  the  century 
that  its  tone  was  gradually  restored  by  the  wise  policy 
of  Queen  Elizabeth. 

During  the  reign  of  Henry  YII.  the  University  was 
strongly  agitated  by  the  struggle  between  the  old 
Pioneers  of  scholastic  philosophy  and  the  new  learning  of 
iean"ingat  ^^  Renaissanco.  The  credit  of  introducing 
Oxford  classical  studies,  and  especially  that  of  Greek 
literature,  has  sometimes  been  claimed  for  the  Reforma- 
tion, but  it  is  rather  due  to  a  liberal  spirit  then  springing 
up  in  the  Catholic  world,  and  especially  to  Italian 
influences.  It  was  from  Italy  that  England  caught  the 
new  impulse,  and  that  Oxford  imported  numerous  MSS. 
of  classical  authors,  while  printing  was  still  almost  a 
fine  art.  Perhaps  the  foundation  of  grammar  schools  at 
Winchester  and  Eton  for  the  special  instruction  of  boys 
in  Latin  may  have  contributed  to  pave  the  way  for  the 
classical  revival  at  the  Universities.  At  all  events,  it 
was  in  progress  before  the  Reformation,  and  was  pro- 
moted by  several  enlightened  bishops  and  abbots  of  the 
old  religion,  and  may  not  improperly  be  regarded  as  a 
legacy  of  Catholic  to  Protestant  England.  Writing  in 
1497.  Erasmus,  who  is  sometimes  described  as  the  father 


The  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation    71 

of  classical  studies  in  England,  speaks  of  a  '  rich  harvest 
of  classical  literature '  as  already  flourishing  at  Oxford 
on  every  side,  and  declares  that  he  could  well  nigli 
forget  Italy  in  the  society  of  Colet,  Grocyn,  Ly  nacre,  and 
More.  Indeed,  he  places  England,  in  respect  of  culture, 
above  France  or  Germany,  and  second  to  Ital}^  alone. 
In  fact,  we  soon  afterwards  find  Richard  Croke,  an 
Englishman,  teaching  Greek  at  Leipsic,  whence  ho 
migrated,  a  few  3^ears  later,  to  succeed  Erasmus  himself 
as  Professor  at  Cambridge. 

During  his  first  visit  to  Oxford,  Erasmus  lodged  in 
a  conventual  house  of  Augustin  Canons,  known  as  St. 
ErasmH^s,  Mary's  College,  opposite  New  Inn  Hall.  Of 
Grocvn,''and  ^^®  uamcs  thus  commcmorated  by  him,  that  of 
Lmacre  •  g'^,  Tliouias  More  belongs  to  the  political  his- 
tory of  England,  but  he  also  deserves  to  be  remembered 
as  the  3'oung  student  of  Canterbury  College,  among  the 
most  ardent  disciples  and  most  zealous  promoters  of  clas- 
sical teaching  at  Oxford.  Colet,  who  had  known  More  in 
the  house  of  Cardinal  Morton,  and  who  became  famous 
as  the  founder  of  St.  Paul's  School,  was  educated  at 
Magdalen  College,  but  afterwards  visited  France  and 
Italy,  whence  he  returned  in  1497,  to  lecture  publicly 
but  gratuitously  on  St.  Paul's  Epistles,  and  to  become 
a  leading  pioneer  of  Latin  scholarship  in  the  University. 
Grocyn  had  been  elected  Fellow  of  New  College  as  far  back 
as  14G7,  and  was  Divinity  Reader  at  Magdalen  College 
about  1483.  It  was  not  until  some  years  later  that  he 
went  to  Italy  for  purposes  of  study,  and  devoted  himself 
to  Greek  and  Latin.  On  his  return,  he  resided  in 
Exeter  College,  and  delivered  the  first  public  lectures 
on   Greek,   which   seem    to    have   been   attended    by 


^2  The  University  of  Oxford 

Erasmus  himself,  wlio  speaks  of  liim  witli  unfailing 
respect.  Lynacre  was  elected  Fellow  of  All  Souls  in 
1484,  but,  like  Colet  and  Grocyn,  owed  his  erudition 
chiefly  to  his  residence  in  Italy,  where  he  became  Pro- 
fessor of  Medicine  at  Padua.  But  his  range  of  studies 
was  so  wide  that  it  was  doubted  of  him  whether  he  was 
*  a  better  Latinist  or  Grecian,  a  better  grammarian  or 
physician.'  In  modern  times  he  is  chiefly  known  as 
among  the  founders,  and  as  the  first  President,  of  the 
College  of  Physicians ;  while  his  principal  claim  to 
gratitude  at  Oxford  consists  in  his  posthumous  founda- 
tion of  two  Readerships  in  Physiology  at  Merton  College, 
which  have  since  been  consolidated  into  a  Professorship 
of  Anatomy.  The  new  studies,  however,  met  with  violent 
opposition,  and  several  University  dignitaries  publicly 
lectured  against  Erasmus.  Indeed,  if  we  are  to  believe 
Anthony  Wood,  in  spite  of  all  the  reformers'  efforts, 
academical  learning  was  still  in  a  deplorable  state  in 
1508,  the  last  year  of  Henry  VII. 's  reign.  '  The  schools 
were  much  frequented  with  querks  and  sophistry.  All 
things,  whether  taught  or  written,  seemed  to  be  trite  or 
inane.  No  pleasant  streams  of  humanity  or  mythology 
were  gliding  among  us,  and  the  Greek  language,  from 
whence  the  greater  part  of  knowledge  is  derived,  was  at 
a  very  low  ebb,  or  in  a  manner  forgotten.' 

The  first  endowed  lectureship  of  the  Greek  language 
at  Oxford  was  instituted  by  Richard  Fox,  Bishop  of  Win- 
Fonnrtation  clicster,  in  1516,  as  part  of  his  new  founda- 
ciiristi  tion  of  Corpus  Christi  College.  His  original 
Bishop  Fox  intention  had  been  to  found  a  monastery,  and 
in  founding  a  college  instead,  with  twenty  fellows  and 
twenty  scholars,  he  clearly  showed  his  desire  to  encourage 


The  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation    73 

the  classics  by  providing  also  for  Professors  of  Greek  and 
Latin,  as  well  as  of  theology,  whose  lectures  should  be 
open  to  all  the  University.  By  virtue  of  this  endow- 
ment, Bishop  Fox  has  been  regarded  as  the  founder  of 
the  professorial  system,  though  he  must  perhaps  share 
that  honour,  not  only  with  William  of  Waynflete,  but 
with  Margaret,  Countess  of  Richmond,  mother  of 
Henry  VII.,  who  had  already  founded  the  Margaret 
Professorship  of  Divinity  in  1502.  But  Fox's  liberal 
spirit  and  sympathy  with  the  Renaissance  was  shown  in 
jDrovisions,  hitherto  unknown,  for  instruction  in  the 
classical  authors,  for  the  colloquial  use  of  Greek  as 
well  as  Latin,  and  for  the  election  of  lecturers  from 
Greece  and  Southern  Italy.  It  was  upon  these  grounds 
that  Erasmus  predicted  a  great  future  for  the  college  as 
a  stronghold  of  the  classical  movement. 

That  movement  had  already  provoked  a  strange 
outbreak  of  academical  barbarism  in  the  University  of 
Greeks  and  O^^^d.  The  faction  of  '  Trojaus,'  as  they 
Troj:iiis  called  themselves,  from  their  enmity  to  Greek 
letters,  seems  to  have  been  partly  animated  by  a 
popular  aversion  to  change,  and  partly  by  a  far-sighted 
appreciation  of  the  anti-Catholic  tendencies  inherent  in 
the  Renaissance.  It  is  said  to  have  originated  in  hos- 
tility to  Grocyn's  Greek  lectures  at  Exeter  College ;  but 
it  reached  its  height  in  the  early  part  of  Henry  VIIL's 
reign,  by  which  time,  however,  the  classics  had  won 
powerful  friends  at  Court,  and  the  '  Greeks '  were  pro- 
tected by  a  peremptory  Royal  order,  issued  in  1519. 
It  is  remarkable  that  no  trace  of  these  fierce  contro- 
versies between  Scholasticism  and  the  New  Learning, 
still  less  of  the  impending  revolution  in  the  national 


74  The  University  of  Oxford 

religion,  is  to  be  discerned  in  the  statutes  of  Brasenose, 
the  latest  of  the  pre-Reformation  colleges,  issued  in 
1521,  nine  years  after  its  foundation.  Under  these 
statutes  the  scholars  were  bound  to  study  the  old 
subjects  of  the  scholastic  curriculum,  '  Sophistry,  Logic, 
and  Philosophy,  and  afterwards  Divinity  .  .  .  for  the 
advancement  of  Holy  Church,  and  for  the  support  and 
exaltation  of  the  Christian  faith.'  On  the  other  hand, 
there  are  ample  proofs  that  long  before  the  Old  Learning 
ceased  to  rule  the  University  system  of  disputations  and 
examinations,  the  Renaissance  had  already  penetrated 
into  the  University  and  College  Libraries. 

The  great  minister  of  Henry  VIII. ,  Cardinal  Wolsey, 
must  always  be  remembered  as  the  most  discerning  as 
Cardinal  Well  as  the  most  generous  patron  of  liberal 
thefomS  culture,  which  he  admired  for  its  own  sake, 
chds't  though  he  naturally  regarded  it  as  the  hand- 

^^^''^  maid  of  the  Church.  It  was  in  1518  that 
Wolsey  came  to  Oxford,  in  company  with  Catharine  of 
Aragon,  while  the  King  remained  behind  at  Abingdon. 
The  University,  doubtless  perceiving  the  danger  of  im- 
pending spoliation,  '  made  a  solemn  and  ample  decree, 
not  only  of  giving  up  their  statutes  intd  the  Cardinal's 
hands,  to  be  reformed,  corrected,  renewed,  and  the  like, 
but  also  their  liberties,  indulgences,  privileges,  nay  the 
whole  University  (the  colleges  excepted),  to  be  by  him 
disposed  and  framed  into  good  order.'  Wolsey  did  not 
disappoint  their  confidence,  and  some  five  years  later  (in 
1523)  returned  the  charters,  with  a  new  and  still  more 
beneficial  one  procured  from  the  King.  At  this  period 
lie  is  believed  to  have  contemplated  the  foundation  of 
more  than  one  University  professorship  and  the  erection 


The  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation    ;5 

of  University  lecture-rooms,  but  if  he  ever  entertained 
such  an  idea,  it  was  abandoned.  In  the  meantime,  how- 
ever, he  was  projecting  the  foundation  of  a  college  for 
secular  clergy  on  a  scale  of  grandeur  hitherto  unknown, 
for  the  purpose  (as  Huber  well  says)  of  '  cultivating  the 
new  literature  in  the  service  of  the  old  Church.'  In 
order  to  endow  '  Cardinal  College,'  as  it  was  to  be  called, 
twenty-two  priories  and  convents  were  suppressed,  under 
Papaland  Royal  authority,  and  their  revenues,  amounting 
to  2,000?.,  were  diverted  to  the  maintenance  often  pro- 
fessorships, as  well  as  of  sixty  canonists  and  forty  priests. 
The  students  were  to  be  trained  in  a  great  school  founded 
at  Ipswich,  as  those  of  New  College  were  trained  at 
Winchester.  The  first  stone  of  the  building  was  laid  in 
1525  :  scholars  had  been  eno'ao-ed  from  Cambrido-e  and 
the  Continent  to  serve  on  the  professorial  staff;  the 
abbey  church  of  St.  Frideswide's  had  been  appropriated 
as  the  college  chapel;  and  the  splendid  kitchen,  still  pre- 
served, was  already  completed,  when  the  fall  of  Wolsey 
in  1529  arrested  the  execution  of  this  grand  design. 

The  King,  engrossed  with  the  question  of  obtaining 
a  divorce  from  Catharine  of  Aragon,  was  in  no  mood  to 
Action  of  indulge  the  sympathy  which  he  really  felt 
sityonVhT  towards  learned  institutions,  and  was  rather 
theDi'vorci  ^^^^'  ^^  obtaining  a  favourable  award  from 
Roya?^  Oxford  and  the  other  great  Universities  of 
Supremacy  Europe  ou  the  legality  of  his  marriage.  The 
compliance  of  the  Oxford  Convocation  was  not  extorted 
without  grievous  pressure.  The  younger  Masters  of 
Arts,  as  Wood  informs  us,  stood  firm  in  refusing  to 
sanction  the  divorce,  and,  notwithstanding;  a  threatenins: 
letter  from  the  King  himself,  the  desired  vote  was  only 


1 


^6  The   University  of  Oxford 

secured,  after  repeated  failures,  by  the  exclusion  of  the 
graduates  in  Arts  from  the  Convocation.  Soon  after 
this  memorable  but  somewhat  disgraceful  vote,  in  April 
1530,  the  King  again  visited  Oxford,  and  took  back  into 
his  own  hands  the  charters  both  of  the  University  and 
of  the  citv,  which  had  ag'ain  beg-un  to  challeno-e  acade- 
mical  privileges.  They  were  not  restored  until  1543, 
and  during  the  interval  the  University  was  again  invited 
to  pronounce  a  solemn  verdict — no  longer  upon  a  ques- 
tion of  private  right,  but  on  the  gravest  issue  of  national 
policy  ever  submitted  to  its  judgment.  For  by  this  time 
the  preliminary  events  which  ushered  in  the  English 
Reformation  were  following  each  other  in  rapid  succes- 
sion. In  July  1530,  the  replies  of  several  Universities 
in  favour  of  the  divorce  had  been  forwarded  to  the  Pope 
by  the  hand  of  Cranmer,  and  in  the  following  March 
thev  were  laid  before  Parliament.  In  November  1530, 
Cardinal  Wolsey,  charged  with  treason,  died  at  Leicester 
on  his  way  to  the  Tower.  At  the  beginning  of  1531, 
the  clergy,  having  bought  off  the  penalties  of  prcemunire, 
were  induced,  under  strong  pressure,  to  acknowledge 
Henry  as  '  Head  of  the  Church  and  Clergy,  so  far  as  the 
law  of  Christ  will  allow.'  In  1532,  an  Act  was  passed 
for  restraining  all  appeals  to  Rome,  Sir  Thomas  More 
resigned  the  Chancellorship,  and  Henry  married  Ann 
Boleyn.  In  1533,  Cranmer,  having  succeeded  Warham 
as  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  not  only  pronounced  the 
King's  marriage  with  Catharine  to  be  null  and  void,  but 
that  with  Anne  Boleyn  to  be  good  and  lawful.  In  1534, 
the  clergy  in  Convocation  were  forbidden  to  make  con^ 
stitutions  except  by  the  royal  assent,  and  the  Act  was 
passed  forbidding  the  payment  of  annates  to  Rome.    In 


The  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation    77 

the  same  year  the  formal  separation  of  the  English 
Church  from  Rome  was  consummated  by  the  great  Act 
25  Hen.  YIII.  cap.  21,  which  left  doctrine  untouched, 
it  is  true,  but  abolished  the  authority  of  the  Pope  in 
England,  w^hile  it  also  rendered  the  monasteries  liable 
to  visitation  by  commission  under  the  Great  Seal.  Jn 
1535,  under  the  Act  of  Supremacy  (26  Hen.  YIII.  cap. 
1),  the  King  assumed  the  title  of  '  Supreme  Head  of 
the  Church  of  England  ' ;  Bishop  Fisher  and  Sir  Thomas 
More  were  executed  for  denying  the  Royal  supremacy, 
and  Thomas  Cromwell  was  appointed  Yicar-General  of 
England. 

It  was  in  1534  that  the  University  was  invited  to 

concur  in  the  foregone  conclusion  in  favour  of  separation 

from  Rome,  dictated  by  canonists  and  theolo- 

Compliance         .... 

of  the  uni-    g-iaus  in  the  Kings's  interest.     It  did  so  with 

versity  re-  .  .... 

warded  by  little  hesitation,  and  it  is  probable  that  an 
honest  zeal  for  the  independence  of  the 
National  Church  mingled  with  less  worthy  motives  in 
eliciting  the  required  consent.  Moreover,  Protestant 
doctrines,  propagated  by  some  of  the  scholars  imported 
from  Cambridge  and  the  Continent,  had  already  taken 
root  in  Oxford  soil,  and  several  members  of  Cardinal 
College  had  already  undergone  persecution.  In  the 
following  year  a  visitation  of  the  University  was  in-  ) 
Btituted,  for  the  double  purpose  of  establishing  ecclesi- 
astical conformity  and  supplanting  the  old  scholastic 
culture  by  a  large  infusion  of  classical  learning.  The 
study  of  the  Canon  Law  was  suppressed,  and  Leighton, 
one  of  the  visitors,  joyfully  reported  that  '  Dunce ' 
(Duns  Scotus)  was  '  set  in  Bocardo,'  or  relegated  to  an 
academical  limbo,  while  the  leaves  of  scholastic  manu- 


yS  The  University  of  Oxford 

scripts,  torn  up  by  wliolesale,  miglit  be  seen  fluttering 
about  New  College  quadrangle.  On  tbe  other  band, 
the  study  of  Aristotle  was  enjoined,  together  with  that 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  an  important  concession  was 
made  to  reward  the  loyalty  of  the  University,  which  had 
cheerfully  surrendered  its  rights  and  property  into  the 
King's  hands.  It  was  now  exempted  from  the  payment 
of  tenths,  or  first  fruits,  granted  by  statute  to  the  Crown, 
on  condition  of  such  classical  lectureships  being  founded 
there  *  as  the  Kynge's  majestie  shall  assigne  or  appoynte.' 
The  support  of  these  lectureships  was  charged  upon  the 
five  colleges  supposed  to  be  the  richest,  including  Corpus, 
where  classical  lectureships  already  existed,  and  the 
students  of  the  other  seven  colleges  were  directed  to 
attend  some  of  the  courses  daily.  At  the  same  time, 
following  the  example  of  his  grandmother,  the  Countess 
Margaret  of  Richmond,  the  King  founded  and  endowed 
w^ith  a  yearly  stipend  of  40Z.  each  five  Regius  Professor- 
ships of  Divinity,  Hebrew,  Greek,  Medicine,  and  Civil 
Law.  The  endowment  was,  of  course,  derived  from  the 
spoils  of  the  Church,  but  Henry  YIII.  deserves  credit 
fcfr  a  sincere  desire  to  promote  learning.  In  1532, 
three  years  after  Wolsey's  fall,  he  took  up  his  great 
minister's  design  and  refounded  Cardinal  College,  though 
on  a  reduced  scale,  under  the  name  of  King  Henry  the 
Eighth's  College.  In  1545  he  dissolved  it,  and  finally 
reconstituted  it  under  the  name  of  Christ  Church,  and 
in  the  following  year  transferred  his  new  episcopal  see 
of  Oxford  from  Oseney  Abbey  to  St.  Frideswide's,  blend- 
ing the  collegiate  with  the  cathedral  establishment  by 
placing  it  under  the  control  of  a  dean  and  eight  canons. 
We  owe  to  Holinshed  the  memorable  reply  made  by  the 


The  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation    yg 

King  to  some  of  his  courtiers  who  fondly  hoped  that  he 
would  have  dealt  with  University  endowments,  and 
especially  with  this  infant  college,  as  he  had  dealt  with 
the  monasteries.  '  Whereas  wee  had  a  regard  onlie  to 
23ull  down  sin  by  defacing  the  monasteries,  you  have  a 
desire  also  to  overthrow  all  goodness  by  subversion  of 
colleges.  I  tell  you,  sirs,  that  I  judge  no  land  in 
England  better  bestowed  than  tliat  which  is  given  to 
our  Universities.  For  by  their  maintenance  our  realme 
shall  be  well  governed  when  we  be  dead  and  rotten.  I 
love  not  learning  so  ill  that  I  will  impair  the  revenewes 
of  anie  one  House  by  a  penie,  whereby  it  may  be  up- 
holden.' 

The  reason  why  college  revenues  were  spared  while 
monastic  revenues  were  confiscated  is  not  difficult  to 
The  first  diviue,  witliout  supposing  that  Henry  VIII. 
iiSmidJn  "^^s  pacified  by  the  mediation  of  Catherine 
the^uu?veiv  P^^r.  The  occupants  of  monasteries  were  re- 
^^*^  garded  as  mercenaries  of  a  foreign  power  which 

had  become  the  enemy  of  the  monarchy ;  the  colleges  were 
nurseries  of  the  secular  clergy,  who  had  never  been  ob- 
noxious to  the  State,  who  shared  to  a  great  extent  the 
national  spirit,  and  most  of  whom  adopted  the  new 
ecclesiastical  order.  The  wise  foresight  of  the  founders 
had  excluded  monks  and  friars  as  aliens  from  collegiate 
societies  ;  the  constitution  of  these  was  mainly  secular, 
and  their  dissolution  was  not  demanded  by  popular 
opinion.  Nevertheless,  the  general  sense  of  insecurity 
and  habit  of  servility  which  prevailed  under  the  despotic 
rule  of  Henry  could  not  but  have  a  blighting  effect  on 
University  life.  Such  acts  as  the  execution  of  Sir 
Thomas  More,  one  of  the  brightest  stars  of  the  English 


8o  The  University  of  Oxford 

Renaissance,  and  the  arbitrary  restrictions  imposed  on 
Protestantism  by  the  Six  Articles,  struck  at  the  root  of 
intellectual  liberty,  and  the  early  stages  of  the  Reforma- 
tion went  far  to  depress  the  academical  enthusiasm 
kindled  by  the  Catholic  Renaissance. 

The  dissolution  of  the  monasteries,  instead  of  as"- 
grandising  the  University,  contributed  to  depopulate  it, 
Iconoclastic  siuce  many  of  the  poorer  students,  formerly 
uuder  ^^°  liarboured  in  monastic  houses  or  lodgings,  or 
supported  by  monastic  exhibitions^  were  now 
cast  adrift.  The  Colleges  and  Chantries  Act,  though 
never  strictly  executed,  shook  public  confidence  in 
academical  endowments,  and  at  the  beg'inninof  of 
Edward  YI.'s  reign  the  University  was  far  less  pros- 
perous than  it  had  been  under  Wolsey.  The  number  of 
degrees  continued  to  fall  off,  and  the  number  of  halls  to 
dwincle,  a ;  religious  controversy  usurped  the  place  of 
education,  and  the  University  was  used  as  an  instru- 
ment to  advance  the  political  or  ecclesiastical  aims  of 
the  Sovereign.  Henry  VIII.  had  obtained  its  sanction 
to  his  divorce  and  to  his  revolt  against  Rome ;  the 
Protector  Somerset  and  Cranmer  determined  to  reform 
it  in  the  interests  of  the  new  Anglican  Church.  Several 
years  before,  Cranmer  had  appointed  commissions  to 
regulate  internal  discipline  in  two  colleges  of  which  he 
was  Visitor,  but  the  Injunctions  which  he  issued  upon 
their  recommendation  involved  no  change  of  religious 
faith  or  ordinances.  Another  roj-al  commission  or 
Visitation,  with  sweeping  powers,  was  issued  for  this 
purpose  in  1549.  A  like  commission  was  appointed 
for  the  University  of  Cambridge,  and  the  new  statutes 
drawn  up  for  both  Universities  were  framed  on   like 


The  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation    8i 

principles,     '  in    order    that    each   eye   of    the    nation 
might   be    set   in    motion    by    similar    muscles.'     The 
'  Edvvardine '  code,  as  it  was  afterwards  called,  was  of 
course   so   framed    as   to   eliminate   everything   which  , 
favoured  Popery  from  the  constitution  of  the  University, 
but  it  was  not  otherwise  revolutionary,  and,  thouo-h  it 
soon  fell   into  disuse,  it  remained  nominally  in  force 
until  it  was  abrogated  by  the  '  Caroline '  statutes  under 
the   chancellorship   of  Laud,     But  the  commissioners 
were  not  equally  forbearing  in  their  treatment  of  indi- 
viduals,  for   they    proceeded   to   expel    all   academical 
dignitaries  found  guilty  of  upholding  the  old  faith.     In 
dealing  with  colleges,  the  spirit  in  which  they  acted  was 
ruthlessly  iconoclastic,  and  not  only  were  the  old  services 
abolished,  but  altars,  images,  statues,  •  the  things  called 
organs,'  and  everything  else  which  seemed  to  savour  of 
'  superstition,'  were  defaced  or  swept  away.    The  demoli- 
tion  of  the  magnificent   reredos  in  the  chapel  of  All 
Souls'  was  assuredly  no  isolated  specimen  of  their  handi- 
work, though  we  have  no  equally  striking  record  of 
Vandalism  in  other  colleges.    The  amount  of  destruction 
wrought  by  their  orders  among  the  libraries  and  chapels 
of  colleofes  cannot  now  be  estimated,  but  it  was  certainly 
enormous,   and   '  cartloads '    of  classical    and    scientific 
manuscripts  were  consigned  to  the  flames,  together  with 
many  an  illuminated  masterpiece  of  scholastic  literature. 
At  the  same  time,  while  the  study  of  canon  law  was 
virtually  suppressed,  that  of  civil  law,  ancient  philosophy,,. 
Leniency       Hebrew,    mathematics,    logic,    rhetoric,    and 

towards  ,.    .  ,  n      i  ii 

colleges  medicine  was  expressly  encouraged  by  the 
Visitors.  Eminent  theologians  were  invited  from  the 
continent,  and  the  lectures  of  Peter  Martyr  and  others 

G 


S2  The  University  of  Oxford 

who  accepted  the  invitation  were  crowded  with  eager 
students.  It  was  even  designed  to  reconstitute  All 
Souls'  as  a  college  for  the  special  cultivation  of  civil  law, 
while  New  College  should  be  devoted  exclusively  to '  art- 
ists.' Many  exhibitions  for  poor  boys  were  suppressed, 
the  Magdalen  Grammar  School  was  saved  only  by  earnest 
remonstrances  from  the  citizens,  and  some  new  disposi- 
tions were  made  of  college  revenues  with  little  regard  to 
founders'  intentions.  But  the  spoliation  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  so  indiscriminate  as  Anthony  Wood  repre- 
sents it.  The  Protector  Somerset,  being  pressed,  like 
Henry  VIII.,  to  sanction  the  general  disendowment  of 

•  colleges,  repelled  the  proposal  with  equal  indignation; 

;and  indeed  there  is  some  reason  to  believe  that  colleges 

were  now  regarded  with  peculiar  favour  as  seminaries 

of  classical  learning,  and  comparatively  free  from  the 

.scholastic  and  medifBval  spirit  which  still  animated  the 

^University  system.    Perhaps  for  this  reason  the  Visitors 

forbore  to  exercise  their  power  of  consolidating  several 

•colleges  into  one,  though  they  did  not  scruple  to  remove 

•  obnoxious  Heads  and  fellows.    Some  of  their  injunctions 
■exhib'"  much  good  sense,  and  even  anticipate  modern 

reforms,  such  as  those  which  make  fellowships  terminable 
;and  tenable  only  on  condition  of  six  months'  residence, 
which  insist  on  a  matriculation-examination  in  grammar 
.and   Latin,   and  which  require  that  lectures  shall  be 
followed   by  examinations.     It  is  remarkable  that    at 
Magdalen  and  All  Souls'  one  fellowship  was  to  be  re- 
served for  Irishmen.     Others  of  their  injunctions  were 
purely  disciplinary,  such  as  those  which  prohibit  undue 
-.expenditure  on  banquets  after  disputations,  the  practice 
of  gambling,  and  the  use  of  cards  in  term-time.     Such 


The  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation    83 

regulations  point  to  an  increase  of  luxury  consequent  on 
the  development  of  colleges,  originally  designed  for  tlie 
poor  but  now  frequented  by  a  wealthier  class.  Polemical 
divinity,  stimulated  by  Peter  Martyr's  discourses  on  the 
Eucharist,  continued  to  flourish ;  but,  with  this  excep- 
tion, University  studies  were  languishing,  and  while 
foreign  divines  were  being  imported  into  England, 
Oxford  professors  of  civil  law  were  emigrating  to  Lou- 
vain.  The  non-collegiate  students  became  fewer  and 
fewer;  the  most  experienced  teachers  gradually  disap- 
peared ;  the  impulse  of  the  Renaissance  died  away  ;  the 
new  spirit  of  inquiry  failed  to  supply  the  place  of  the 
old  ecclesiastical  order ;  the  attractions  of  trade  began 
to  compete  with  those  of  learning,  and  the  Universities 
no  longer  monopolised  the  most  promising  youths  in  the 
country  who  declined  the  profession  of  arms. 

The  accession  of  Mary,  in  1553,  ushered  in  a  short- 1 
lived  reaction.     As  the  leading  Eomxanist  divines  had 
Reaction       quitted  Oxford  on  the  proclamation  of  Edward 
nnder  Mary,  yj    g^  ^^^  ^^^  leading  Protcstauts,  headed 

Latiine7and  ^1  Pctcr  Martyr,  were  fain  to  make  their 
cranmcr  escape,  though  uot  till  after  Jewell  had  been 
employed  to  drav/  up  a  congratulatory  epistle  to  the 
Queen,  whose  policy  was  not  fully  revealed  at  the  outset 
of  her  reign.  Heads  and  fellows  of  colleges  were  re- 
leased from  their  obligation  to  renounce  the  authority 
of  the  Pope,  the  Mass  superseded  the  Common  Prayer- 
book,  and  Gardiner,  bishop  of  Winchester,  instituted  a 
Visitation  of  the  three  colleges  under  his  own  personal 
jurisdiction.  After  the  execution  of  Lady  Jane  Grey 
and  the  Queen's  marriage  with  Philip  11.  the  spirit  of 
persecution  rapidly  developed  itself,  all  statutes  passed 

o  2 


84  The  University  of  Oxford 

against  the  Papac}^  since  the  twentieth  year  of  Henry 
VIII.  were  repealed,  the  statutes  passed  against  heretics 
in  the  reigns  of  Henry  IV.  and  Henry  V.  were  revived, 
and  Oxford  became  the  scene  of  those  Protestant 
martyrdoms  which  have  left  an  indelible  impression  of 
horror  and  sympathy  in  the  English  mind.  Several 
victims  of  Catholic  intolerance  had  already  perished  at 
the  stake,  when  Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  Latimer  were 
brought  to  Oxford  for  the  purpose  of  undergoing  the 
solemn  farce  of  an  academical  trial,  and  thus  impli- 
cating the  University  in  the  guilt  of  their  intended 
condemnation.  At  a  convocation  held  in  St.  Mary's 
Church  a  body  of  Oxford  doctors  was  commissioned  to 
dispute  against  the  Protestant  bishops  on  the  Eucharist, 
in  concert  with  a  body  of  Cambridge  doctors  similarly 
commissioned.  The  so-called  'disputation'  took  place 
in  the  Divinity  School.  A  day  was  assigned  to  each 
prisoner,  the  academical  judgment  was  of  course  given 
against  them,  the  judicial  sentence  soon  followed,  and 
on  October  15,  1555,  Pidley  and  Latimer  were  led  out 
to  be  burned  in  Canditch,  opposite  Balliol  College, 
where  a  sermon  was  preached  before  the  stake  by  Dr. 
Richard  Smyth  on  the  text,  '  Though  I  give  my  body 
to  be  burned,  and  have  not  charity,  it  profiteth  me 
nothing.'  Cranmer's  execution  was  delayed  for  months, 
since  it  required  the  sanction  of  Rome,  and  his  courage, 
as  is  well  known,  gave  way  under  the  fear  of  death. 
His  recantation  came  too  late  to  save  his  life,  yet  he 
was  called  upon  to  repeat  it  in  St.  Mary's  Church  on 
his  way  to  his  doom.  Instead  of  doing  so,  he  publicly 
retracted  it  before  the  assembled  University,  with  ear- 
nest professions   of  remorse.     He  was  not  allowed  to 


The  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation    85 

conclude  his  address,  but  hurried  off  with  brutal  eager- 
ness, to  give  at  the  stake  that  marvellous  example  of 
heroic  constancy  which  has  atoned  for  all  his  past  errors 
in  the  eyes  of  Protestants,  and  crowned  the  martyrdoms 
of  the  Eno-lish  Reformation.  From  that  moment  the 
cause  of  the  Catholic  reaction  was  desperate  in  the 
University,  no  less  than  in  the  nation.  Queen  Mary 
conferred  upon  it  many  benefits  and  favours,  and  woa 
the  servile  homage  of  its  official  representatives,  but 
she  never  won  the  hearts  of  the  students,  and  the  news 
of  her  death  was  received  with  no  less  rejoicing  in 
Oxford  than  in  other  parts  of  England. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  a  fresh  Visitation  of  the 

University  was  set  on  foot,  in  1556,  by  Cardinal  Pole, 

who,  havino:  succeeded  Gardiner  as  chancellor 

Visitation  '  D 

and  reforms   ^f  Cambrids^e  in  the  previous  year,  now  suc- 

of  Cardinal  o  •■■  '' 

P«i«  ceeded  Sir  John  Mason,  the  first  lay  chan- 

cellor of  Oxford.  He  was  the  last  in  that  line  of 
cardinals,  beginning  with  Beaufort,  who,  armed  with 
the  title  of  Legafus  a  latere,  assumed  to  govern  the 
English  Church,  as  it  had  never  been  governed  before, 
uncfer  the  direct  orders  of  the  Pope.  The  Visitors  de- 
pute.! by  him  proceeded  to  hunt  out  certain  obnoxious 
persons  who  had  not  withdrawn  from  Oxford,  to  burn 
all  the  English  Bibles  which  they  could  find  in  the 
common  market-place,  and  to  purge  the  libraries  of 
Protestant  books.  The  Cardinal  soon  afterwards  caused 
the  University  and  college  statutes  to  be  revised, 
chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  correcting  recent  innovations. 
For  instance,  whil^  Edward  VI.'s  commissioners  had 
authorised  the  use  of  English  in  college  halls.  Car- 
dinal Pole  restored  the  old  rule  against  speaking  any 


86  The  University  of  Oxford 

language  but  Latin.  It  was  also  an  avowed  object  of 
the  revision  to  restore  tbe  supremacy  of  Aristotle  and 
the  study  of  scholastic  philosophy.  These  changes, 
having  scarcely  been  effected  before  they  were  reversed, 
fill  less  space  in  University  annals  than  an  incident  of 
comparatively  trivial  importance,  which  must  have  out- 
raged the  Pro<"estant  sympathies  of  the  Oxford  towns- 
people. The  wife  of  Peter  Martyr  had  been  interred  in 
Christchurch  Cathedral,  near  the  relics  of  St.  Frides- 
wide.  Pole  now  directed  the  dean,  no  unwilling  agent, 
to  exhume  the  body  and  cast  it  into  unconsecrated 
ground.  The  Dean  improved  upon  his  instructions  by 
having  it  buried  under  a  dunghill,  whence  it  was  again 
disinterred,  mingled  with  the  relics  of  St.  Frideswide, 
and  finally  committed  to  the  grave  in  the  year  1561. 
No  wonder  that  Queen  Mary's  patronage  proved  a  poor 
substitute  for  academical  freedom,  that  learnino*  con- 
tinned  to  decline,  that  even  sermons  were  rare  and  ill- 
attended,  that  lectures  were  almost  suspended,  that  few 
'  proceeded '  in  any  of  the  faculties,  and  that  it  was 
thought  necessary  to  reduce  the  qualification  of  standing 
for  the  M.  A.  degree  in  order  to  reinforce  the  University 
vvdtli  Masters. 

Two  colleges,  it  is  true.  Trinity  and-  St.  John's,  owe 
their  origin  to  Mary's  reign,  and  both  were  founded 
Fcmnd.ation  by  Romau  Cathollcs,  but  upon  the  ruins  of 
au'i  st!^  ^  monastic  institutions,  and  before  the  Marian 
c^ueges  persecutions  had  borne  fruit  in  the  University. 
These  colleges,  as  semi-Catholic  foundations  of  the 
Eeformation  era,  may  fitly  be  regarded  as  forming 
landmarks  between  mediaeval  and  modern  Oxford. 


Reign  of  Elizabeth  ^7 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

REIGN   OF  ELIZABETH   AND   CHANCELLORSHIP   OF 

LEICESTER. 

With  the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  in  Kovember  1558, 
the  scenes  were  rapidly  shifted,  and  the  parts  of  the 
Visitation  chief  actors  strangely  reversed.  For  a  while, 
E^Hcth  ill  the  quaint  language  of  Anthony  Wood, 
aud  policy  of  < +-^q  relioicns  beinff  now  as  'twere  on  foot. 

Archbishop  o  "-'  .  .  ■_•       l 

Parker         divers  of  the  ohiefest  of  the  University  retired 
and    absented   themselves   till   they    saw    how    affairs 
would  proceed.'     They  had  not  long  to  wait.     Though 
she  received  graciously   a   deputation   from  the   Uni- 
versity, headed  by  Dr.  Ti^esham,  canon  of  Christchurch, 
and  Dr.  Raynolds,  Warden  of  Merton,  the  Queen  lost  no 
time  in  announcing  that  she  intended  to   visit  it,  and 
made  a  suspensory  order  in  regard  to  all  academical 
elections.    In  June  she  nominated  a  body  of  Visitors  to 
«make  a  mild  and  gentle,  not  rigorous,  reformation.' 
One  of  these  Visitors  was  Bishop  Cox,  of  Ely,  who  had 
acted  in  a  similar  capacity  under  Edward  VI.,  and  the 
Visitation  was  conducted  on  much  the  same  principles, 
except  that  it  was  less  destructive.     Still,  compliance 
with  the   Act  of  Supremacy  just  passed  was  strictly 
enforced,  and  nine  Heads  of  colleges,  as  well  as  the 
Dean  and  two  canons  of  Christchurch,  proving  recu- 
sants, were  ejected  or  forced  to  resign.     Among  these 
were  Raynolds  and  Tresham,  the  former  of  whom  died 
in  prison.     A  considerable  number  of  fellows  are  men- 
tioned as  having  been  expelled  for  refusing  the  oath, 


88  The  University  of  Oxford 

but  tile  majority  conformed.  Some  Protestant  exiles 
rotiirned  from  Zurich,  Strasburg,  and  other  foreign 
towns,  where  they  had  suffered  gTeat  privations  ;  but  it  is 
certain  that  Oxford  lost  many  Catholic  scholars  whom 
she  could  ill  spare,  and  suffered  far  more  from  the 
Elizabethan  proscriptions  than  Cambridge,  where  the 
Reformation  had  been  more  firmly  established.  Peter 
Martyr  and  Jewell  attested  the  intellectual  and  moral 
degeneiacy  of  the  University  at  the  beginning  of 
Elizabeth's  reign,  nor  could  it  have  been  otherwise  after 
such  rapid  vicissitudes  in  religious  doctrine  and  eccle- 
siastical government,  unsettling  the  minds  of  students, 
and  keeping  academical  rulers  in  a  constant  state  of 
suspense  or  time-serving.  It  is  certainly  significant 
that  in  the  very  year  after  the  Act  of  Uniformity  was 
passed,  establishing  the  revised  Common  Prayer-book, 
the  Queen  authorised  the  use  of  a  Latin  version  thereof 
i  1  college  chapels  in  order  to  promote  familiarity  with 
Latin.  But  it  is  probable  that  this,  like  other  con- 
cessions, was  also  due  to  a  desire,  which  she  fully  shared 
with  Archbishop  Parker,  to  favour  the  growth  of  an 
Angio-Cathoiic  instead  of  a  Puritan  Church,  and  to 
e:icourage  the  Protestants  without  estranging  the 
Romanists.  Meanwhile  Sampson,  the  dean  of  Christ- 
church,  and  Humphrey,  the  president  of  Magdalen, 
were  zealous  promoters  of  the  Puritan  movement,  and 
as  such  distrusted  by  the  queen,  especially  as  they  were 
know^n  to  be  in  correspondence  with  Geneva. 

In  the  year  1564  Robert  Dudley,  Earl  of  Leicester, 
became  chancellor  of  the  University,  and  continued 
in  oftice  nearly  twenty-four  years.  With  the  exception 
of  Sir  John  Mason,  elected  in  1552,  and  the  Earl  of 


Reign  of  Elizabeth  89 

Arundel,  elected  in  1558,  lie  was  tlie  first  layman  who 
had  held  this  high  office,  which,  moreover,  had  always 
Chancellor-  been  filled  by  some  resident  member  of  the 
Leicester  University  up  to  the  year  1484.  Non-re3ident 
and  courtier  as  he  was,  however,  the  office  was  no 
sinecure  in  his  hands.  During  his  long  tenure  of  it, 
his  influence  made  itself  felt  in  every  department  of 
University  life,  and  was  mainly  exercised  in  favour  of 
the  Puritans.  For  this  reason,  we  cannot  accept 
Anthony  Wood's  censure  of  him  as  that  of  an  impartial 
historian,  nor  can  it  be  denied  that  he  took  a  genuine 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  University,  and  effected 
some  useful  reforms.  One  valuable  concession  obtained 
by  the  University  under  his  chancellorship,  and  pro- 
bably at  his  instance,  was  its  incorporation  in  1571  by 
an  Act  of  Parliament,  investing  the  '  chancellor,  masters, 
and  scholars '  with  the  rights  of  perpetual  succession, 
and  confirming  to  it  all  the  other  privileges  conferred 
upon  it  by  previous  monarchs.  This  parliamentary 
title  relieved  it  from  the  necessity  of  seeking  a  new 
charter  from  each  succeeding  king,  and  is  the  organic 
statute  by  which  its  franchises  are  now  secured.  In  the 
same  year  an  Act  was  passed  which,  supplemented  by 
further  Acts  passed  five  years  later,  has  done  more  than 
any  other  to  save  the  revenues  of  colleges  from  dissipa- 
tion. The  immense  influx  of  gold  from  America,  lower- 
ing the  value  of  money,  had  proportionately  raised  the 
nominal  value  of  land,  and  private  landowners  were 
reaping  the  advantage  in  sales  and  leases.  The  govern- 
ing bodies  of  colleges,  in  turn,  were  exacting  increased 
fines  on  granting  long  leases  at  low  rentals,  to  the 
injury  of  their  successors.     The  Act  of  loth   Elizabeth 


90  The  University  of  Oxford 

checked  this  practice  by  enacting  that  college  leases 
should  be  for  twenty-one  years,  or  three  lives  at  most, 
with  a  reservation  of  the  customary  rent;  but  means 
were  found  to  evade  the  Act,  and  it  was  necessary  to 
make  it  more  stringent.  This  was  done  by  Acts  of  18th 
Elizabeth,  the  more  important  of  which,  '  for  the  main- 
tenance of  colleges,'  is  sometioies  attributed  to  the 
foresight  of  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  and  sometimes  to  that 
of  Lord  Burghley.  It  requires  that  one-third  part  at 
least  of  the  rents  to  be  reserved  in  college  leases  shall 
be  payable  in  corn  or  in  malt,  at  6s.  8<:Z.  per  quarter  and 
5^,  per  quarter  respectively.  As  prices  rose,  this  one- 
third  ultimately  far  outweighed  in  value  the  remaining 
two-thirds,  and  became  '  a  second  additional  endow- 
ment '  to  colleges. 

Another  measure  of  more  doubtful  policy  was  passed 
by  the  University  itself  under  the  direct  instigation  of 
Changes  in  Leicester.  We  have  seen  that  in  the  later 
m'onro7the  ^-^icldle  Agos  an  assembly  consisting  mainly  of 
University  j-esidcut  tcachers,  and  called  the  '  Black  Con- 
gregation,' held  preliminary  discussions  on  University 
business  about  to  come  before  Convocation.  In  the 
year  15G9,  the  Earl  of  Leicester  procured  orders  to  be 
fra,med  by  a  delegacy  and  passed  into  statutes,  whereby 
it  vvas  provided  that  in  future  this  preliminary  delibera- 
tion should  be  conducted  by  the  Vice-chancellor,  Foctors, 
Heads  of  Houses,  and  Proctors.  This  change  maiks  a 
notable  step  in  the  growth  of  the  college  monopoly 
afterwards  established,  and  could  hardly  have  been  car- 
ried while  the  monastic  orders  were  still  powerful  in 
Oxford,  and  a  large  body  of  non-collegiate  students 
were  lodged  in  halls.     Nor  could  the  erection  of  such  a 


Reign  of  Elizabeth  91 

legislative  oUgarcliy,  with  a  virtual  power  of  suppressing 
obnoxious  motions,  be  otherwise  than  unfavourable  to 
freedom   of  teaching   and    government,    however  con- 
genial   to    Tudor    notions    of    academical    discipline. 
Another  change  made  by  Leicester  in  the  same  year 
(15G9),   though    dictated   by   a   like  spirit,   cannot  be 
reo-arded  as  an  innovation,  but  rather  as  the  restoration 
of  an  ancient  usage.    From  the  earliest  times  Chancellors 
of  the  University  had  been  assisted  by  deputies,  vvhom 
they  appointed  either  periodically,  or,  more  probably,  as 
occasion  might  require.    By  the  statutes  of  1549,  issued 
by  Edward  VI. 's  Visitors,  the  right  of  electing  these  com- 
missaries, or  '  vice-chancellors,'  as  they  came  to  be  called, 
was  vested  in  the  House  of  Congregation.    The  practice 
of  nomination  was  now  resumed  by  Leicester,  and  has 
been  maintained    ever  sincer.       A    somewhat   opposite 
tendency  is  to  be  observed  in  his  abolition  of  the  more 
orderly  but  more  exclusive  mode  of  electing  proctors, 
which  had  grown  up  in   lieu   of  the  old    tumultuous 
elections  by  an  academical  plebiscite,  when  the  proctors 
represented  the  '  nations.'    The  nature  of  this  restricted 
election,  per  iiistantes,  as  Anthony  Wood  calls  it,  is  by 
no  means  clear ;  at  all  events,  the  unrestricted  election 
was  re-established  by  Leicester's  influence,  and  continued 
to  produce  the  same  disorders  as  ever,  until  it  was  finally 
reformed  in  1629. 

We  have  abundant  proofs  of  Leicester's  active,  and 
even  meddlesome,  interference  with  the  details  of  Uni- 
Leicester's  versity  and  college  administration.  Sometimes 
tion'ofthe'  ^^  recommends  eminent  foreigners  for  ad- 
uiiiversity  yanccment,  or  accompanies  tliem  on  visits 
to    Oxford  3  sometimes   he    writes    to    urge   the    duty 


92  The  University  of  Oxford 

of  encouragiDg  more  frequent  University  sermons; 
sometimes  he  corrects  the  abuses  of  disorderly  and 
vituperp.tive  preaching  by  ordering  that  no  one  shall 
occupy  the  University  pulpit  without  undergoing  a 
probation  in  his  own  college ;  sometimes  he  rebukes 
the  license  of  youth  in  respect  of  costume  ;  sometimes 
he  superintends  the  revision  of  University  statutes  by 
a  delegacy  mainly  composed  of  Heads  of  colleges ;  nor 
must  we  overlook  his  gift  to  the  University  of  a  new 
printing-press.  But  the  most  permanent  monument  of 
Leicester's  chancellorship  was  the  new  test  <^^  snbsnn'p- 
tion  tothe  Thirty-nine  Articles  and  the  RoyalSupremacy, 
to  be  reguirfid  from  every  student  above  sixteen  years 
of  age  on  his  matriculation.  This  rule  was  doubtless 
intended  only  to  exclude  the  Romanising  party  from 
the  University ;  but  its  ulterior  consequences,  unfore- 
seen by  its  author,  were  mainly  felt  by  the  descendants 
of  the  Puritans.  Thenceforth  the  University  of  Oxford, 
once  open  to  all  Christendom,  was  narrowed  into  an 
exclusively  Church  of  England  institution,  and  became 
the  favourite  arena  of  Anglican  controversy,  develop- 
ing more  and  more  that  special  character,  at  once 
worldly  and  clerical,  which  it  shares  with  Cambridge 
alone  among  the  Universities  of  Europe. 

The  letter,  dated  1581,  in  which  Leicester  urges 
Convocation  to  adopt  this  disastrous  measure,  contains 
other  recommendations  directed  to  the  same  end.  One 
of  these  is  a  proposal  that,  in  order  to  prevent  the  sons 
'  of  knowne  or  suspected  Papists  '  being  sent  to  Oxford 
to  be  trained  by  men  of  the  same  religion,  every  tutor 
should  be  licensed  by  a  select  board,  to  consist  of  the 
vice-chancellor  and  six  doctors  or  bachelors  of  divinity. 


Reign  of  Elizabeth  93 

A  tliird  proposal,  of  whicli  the  cause  is  not  yet  obsolete, 
was  designed  to  check  the  conversion  of  professorships 
into  sinecures,  by  providing  for  the  appointment  of  sub- 
stitutes where  professors  should  fail  to  discharge  their 
duties.  All  these  regulations,  with  some  others  of  a 
salutary  kind,  were  sanctioned  by  decrees  of  Convoca- 
tion, but  it  is  clear  from  a  vigorous  remonstrance  of  the 
Chancellor,  addressed  to  the  University  in  the  following 
year,  that  most  of  them  remained  a  dead  letter.  This 
remonstrance  deserves  to  be  read,  as  illustrating  the 
difference  between  Leicester  in  his  capacity  of  courtier 
and  in  his  capacity  of  University  Chancellor.  The 
political  and  private  character  of  Leicester  belong  to 
history,  and  the  verdict  passed  upon  him  is  not  likely 
to  be  reversed ;  but  it  is  difficult,  after  studying  this 
letter,  to  regard  him  as  animated  only  by  sinister  and 
frivolous  motives  in  his  dealings  with  the  University. 
On  the  other  hand,  there  is  clear  evidence  of  v/holesale 
favouritism  and  jobbery,  as  it  would  now  be  called,  in 
his  dispensation  of  his  own  patronage,  and  in  his 
repeated  and  underhand  attempts  to  control  the  patron- 
age of  colleges.  Upon  the  whole,  his  administration  of 
the  University  was  less  dishonest  and  more  statesman- 
like than  might  have  been  expected  of  so  profligate  a 
politician.  It  cannot  be  compared,  however,  with  ihQ 
wise  administration  of  Cambridge  by  the  great  Burleigh, 
and  the  superiority  of  the  sister-University,  both  in 
vital  energy  and  in  national  esteem,  during  the  Eliza- 
bethan age,  was  probably  due  in  no  small  degree  to  the 
superior  character  of  its  Chancellor. 

Other  causes,  however,  had  contributed  to  depress 
the  intellectual  life  of  Oxford,  and  among  these  we  must 


94  The  University  of  Oxford 

not   orait   to    notice   tlie   witlidrawal    of  many    gifted 
scliolars  to  seek  liberty  of  conscience  at  tlie  new  Catholic 
Depression     Seminary  of  Douay,  foundod  in  1568.     Leices- 
lectuai'iife     tcr's  agcnts  wcre    constantly   on   the    watch 
University     against  the  reappearance  of  these  ^  seminary 
priests '  at  Oxford  with  intent  to  Romanise  the  Uni- 
versity, and  this  perhaps   was  no   imaginary  danger  ; 
but  neither  learning  nor  education    flourished   under 
Oxford  Puritanism.     Writinof  in  1589,  the  year  follow- 
ing  Leicester's  death,  Whitgift  fully  confirms  his  esti- 
mate of  the  laxity  prevailing  at  Oxford.     In  this  very 
year  an  Act  was  passed  to  check  the  sale  or  corrupt 
resignation  of  fellowships — evils  which  owed  their  origin 
to  the  previous  Act  regulating  college  leases,  and  in- 
directly encouraging  a  system  of  money  allowances  to 
fellows,  unknown  in  the  previous  century.     The  rise  of 
grammar  schools,  one  of  the  earliest  and  best  fruits  of 
the  Reformation,  seems  rather  to  have  diminished  than 
to  have  increased  the  demand  for  the  higher  University 
culture.    Formerly,  when  Oxford  itself  was  a  vast  group 
of  grammar  schools,  many  a  boy  who  came  there  to  learn 
grammar   remained  there  to  learn  philosophy  or  law. 
Now,  boys  of  the  same  class  often  got  their  schooling  near 
home,  and  then  betook  themselves  to  one  of  the  numer- 
ous vocations  which  trade  and  commerce  were  opening 
to  English  youth  in  that  great  age  of  enterprise  and 
national  expansion.     Even  the  literature  of  EJizabeth's 
reign  is  courtly  and   popular  rather  than  academical, 
and  Oxford  contributed  little  to  it.    Bacon  was  a  student 
at  Trinity  College,  Cambridge ;  Raleigh  at  Oriel  College ; 
Spenser  and  other  Elizabethan  poets  had  received  an 
University  education  j    but    such   men    derived    their 


Reign  of  Elizabeth  95 

inspiration  from  no  academical  source ;  tlieir  literary 
powers  were  matured  in  a  very  different  school,  and 
the  one  of  their  compeers  whose  fame  eclipses  all  the 
rest,  knew  Oxford  only  as  a  traveller,  on  his  journeys 
to  Stratford-on-Avon.  ^  Home-keeping  youths,'  Shak- 
speare  tells  us,  '  have  ever  homely  wits,'  and  the  saying 
is  characteristic  of  an  agfe  in  which  foreign  travel  often 
supplied  the  place  of  University  education. 

It  was  not  until  the  later  part  of  her  reign  that 
Queen  Elizabeth  actively  patronised  Oxford  culture, 
Encourage-  ^^^  dcsircd  of  the  Chancellors  of  both  the 
SudybV  Universities  that  promising  scholars  might  be 
and  fouilda-  recommcuded  to  her  for  promotion  in  Church 
Bodleian^'  and  State.  The  stimulating  effect  of  such 
Library  patronage  upon  University  studies  very  soon 
made  itself  felt  at  Oxford,  and  men  like  Sir  Heniy 
Savile  were  the  direct  product  of  it.  A  still  more  im- 
portant recipient  of  Elizabeth's  favour  was  Sir  Thos. 
Bodley,  student  of  Magdalen  and  fellow  of  Merton,  who, 
having  been  a  member  of  the  Queen's  household,  was 
afterwards  employed  by  her  on  missions  to  Germany, 
France,  and  Belgium.  Among  the  many  benefactors 
of  the  University  his  name  still  ranks  first  and  highest. 
In  boyhood  he  seems  to  have  imbibed  the  literary  spirit 
of  the  Renaissance  under  foreign  instructors  at  Geneva, 
whither  his  family  had  fled  to  avoid  the  Marian  persecu- 
tion ;  at  Merton  he  was  one  of  the  earliest  readers  in 
Greek,  and  his  long  residence  abroad  in  middle  life  had 
quickened  his  scholarlike  tastes.  At  last,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-three,  he  deliberately  took  leave  of  State  employ- 
ments, 'set  up  his  staff  at  the  library  door'  in  Oxford,  and 
devoted  himself  for  the  remaining  fifteen  years  of  his  life 


g6  The  University  of  Oxford 

to  reconstructing  and  enriching  tlie  library  of  Duke 
Humphrey.  In  1602,  this  building,  renovated  and  en- 
larged, was  opened  with  a  solemn  procession  from  St. 
Mary's  Church,  and  dedicated  to  the  use  of  the  Uni- 
versity. The  whole  design  was  not  completed  until 
after  his  death  ;  but  the  plan  of  it  was  fully  matured, 
with  the  aid  of  Sir  Henry  Savile,  by  the  founder,  who 
drew  the  statutes  with  his  own  hand  and  collected  some 
2,000  volumes  before  the  opening  day.  This  noble  gift 
excited  the  emulation  of  other  donors,  and  probably  did 
more  than  any  Court  patronage  to  promote  learning  in 
the  University. 

During  the  last  seventeen  years  of  the  great  Queen's 
reign  the  history  of  Oxford  was  unruffled  by  stirring- 
events.       That    Leicester's    constant    remon- 

lucreasing 

refinement     strauccs  aefaiust  idleucss,  sinecurism,  and  ex- 

of  academi-  o  '  ^    _       ' 

caiiite  travagance  had    not    been  capricious  or  un- 

founded, is  proved  by  the  fact  of  their  being  repeated 
and  enforced  again  and  again  by  his  three  successors. 
It  was,  indeed,  the  misfortune  of  the  University  that  it 
was  roused  from  the  lethargy  which  oppressed  it  after 
the  Catholic  reaction,  only  to  become  the  battle-ground 
of  the  Romanising  and  Puritan  factions  in  the  Anglican 
Church.  While  its  highest  dignitaries  were  mostly 
animated  by  intense  party  spirit  rather  than  by  zeal  for 
education,  its  students  fully  shared  in  the  genial  laxity  of 
manners,  fostered  by  increasing  luxury,  which  marked 
the  Elizabethan  age.  Their  numbers  were  increas<^d, 
but  the  new  recruits  were  drawn  from  a  wealthier  class ; 
there  were  more  young  gentlemen  among  them,  but  fewer 
hardworking  scholars;  more  of  worldly  accomplishments, 
but  less  of  severe  and  earnest  study.     Many  of  them 


Reign  of  Elizabeth  97 

were  destined  for  lay  professions  or  even  for  trade,  and 
many  tutors  were  now  laymen,  yet  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  there  was  as  much  real  freedom  of  thought  in  the 
Protestant  Oxford  of  Elizabeth  as  in  the  Catholic  Oxford 
of  the  first  three  Edwards.  The  academical  system  was 
narrower  in  principle  than  in  mediaeval  times,  and  the 
University  had  become  a  mere  aggregate  of  colleges 
and  privileged  halls.  On  the  other  hand,  these  collegiate 
bodies  were  far  more  orderly  and  refined  societies,  and 
learned  foreigners,  of  whom  many  found  a  welcome 
there,  were  impressed  with  the  comfort  and  dignity  of 
social  life  at  Oxford,  as  compared  with  that  of  continental 
Universities.  One  of  these,  Albericus  Gentilis,  became 
Regius  Professor  of  Civil  Law,  and  for  a  while  revived 
the  waning  interest  of  that  subject,  which  the  combined 
jealousy  of  the  clergy  and  coinmon  lawyers  had  long 
discouraged  as  a  branch  of  academical  study. 

Queen  Elizabeth  twice  visited  Oxford  in  state,  once 
during  her  '  progress  '  in  1566,  and  again  in  1592.  On 
Queen  Eliza-  tlio  first  occasiou  she  was  accompanied  by 
v^sits'S'''  Leicester  as  Chancellor,  and  by  Cecil  as  Sec- 
oxford  retary  of  State.  She  was  hailed  with  effusive 
loyalty,  and  entertained  for  six  days  with  an  incessant 
round  of  festivities,  orations,  disputations,  and  Latin 
plays,  which  she  bore  with  truly  royal  patience,  winning 
universal  homage  by  '  her  sweet,  affable,  and  noble 
carriage,'  but  frowning  gently  on  divines  of  the  Puri- 
tanical and  Ilomanising  parties,  while  she  reserved  her 
most  winning  smiles  for  the  young  students  who  amused 
her  with  their  boyish  repartees,  sometimes  expressed  in 
Latin.  It  was  not  until  twenty-six  years  later  that  she 
revisited  the  University,  a  prematurely  old  woman,  but 

H 


gS  The  University  op  Oxford 

still  accompanied  by  Cecil,  now  Lord  Burlelgli,  stayed 
for  the  same  period,  and  went  tlirougli  a  repetition  of 
the  same  ceremonials.  This  reception  lacked  the  fresh- 
ness of  the  former  one,  yet  enabled  the  Queen  to  show 
that  she  had  not  forgotten  either  her  Latinity  or  her 
academical  sympathies.  According  to  Anthony  Wood, 
it  was  one  of  her  objects  'to  behold  the  change  and 
amendment  of  learning  and  manners  that  had  been  in 
her  long  absence  made.'  It  does  not  appear  how  far 
she  w^as  satisfied  in  this  respect,  but  her  Latin  speech 
to  the  Heads  of  Houses  certainly  abounds  in  excellent 
advice  and  professions  of  warm  interest  in  the  welfare 
of  the  University.  A.s  before,  she  rallied  the  'preci- 
sians,' as  they  were  then  called,  on  their  over-zeal  for 
Protestantism,  counselling  all  to  study  moderation  and 
.rest  content  with  obeying  the  law,  instead  of  seeking 
to  be  in  advance  of  it. 

It   is    remarkable   how   often   the   town   of  Oxford 

•was  scourged  with  pestilence  during  the  Tudor  period, 

Pe^tiifnces     and  this  cause  had  perhaps  as  much  effect  in 

ancesh/toe  repelling    students  as  the  unsettled   state    of 

ccMiuu-y        ecclesiastical    affairs.      To    check    one    fertile 

source  of  infection,  an  order  was  addressed  by  the  Privy 

Council  to  the  vice-chancellor  and  Heads  of  colleges,  in 

1593,  forbidding  the  performance  of  plays  or  interludes 

in  Oxford  or  within  five  miles  thereof,  since  the  physicians 

had  connected  the  plague  of  that  year  with  the  immense 

influx  of  players  and  vagrants  from  London  into  Oxford 

about  the  Act-time.     The  order   further    directed  the 

University  authorities  to    concert   measures    with  the 

mayor  for  the  prevention  of  overcrowding  ;  and  these 

precautions  were  apparently  successful,  for  the  plague 


Reign  of  Elizabeth  99 

did  not  reappear  in  Oxford  until  1G03,  when  it  was 
broiiglit  thither  from  London  shortly  after  the  accession 
of  James  I. 

Scarcely  less  fatal  to  academical  repose  and  earnest 
study  were  the  violent  conflicts  and  riots,  inherited  from 
tlie  Middle  Ages,  which  constantly  recurred  throughout 
tlie  sixteenth  century.     Some  of  these  arose  out  of  the 
old  traditional  feud  between  .the  northern  and  southern 
nations,  but  that  feud  had  well-nigh  died   out  under 
Leicester's  chancellorship,  and  does  not  seem  to  have 
influenced  the  keenly  contested  election  of  proctors  in 
1594,  though  we   hear  of   a    fray  provoked   by    '  the 
troublesome    Welsh '   in    1587.     The    contest   for   the 
cliancellorship  which   took  place  on  Leicester's  death 
was,  in  the  main,  one  between  Puritans  and  Episcopa- 
lians, and  the  election  of  Hatton  against  Essex  was  a 
victory  for  the  Church  of  England  as  established  by  the 
moderate  policy  of  Elizabeth.     Henceforth  Oxford  be- 
came  the  stronghold  of  Anglicanism,  and  the  internal 
contests  which  divided  the  University  were  essentially 
contests    between   rival    Church    parties.     Meanwhile, 
there  was  little  abatement  of  the  pettier,  but  still  more 
inveterate,  jealousy  between  the  city  and  the  University. 
Year  after  year  this  incurable  enmity  broke  forth  afresh 
in  some  new  form,  and  the  law  courts,  as  well  as  the 
Chancellor,  were  frequently  engaged  in  vain  attempts 
to  keep  the  peace  between  bodies  equally  concerned  in 
the  prosperity  of  Oxford.     A  temporary  abatement  of 
these  disturbances  was  obtained,  in  1581,  by  the  fresh 
imposition  of  an  oath  to  be  taken  by  the  city  sheriff,  on 
his  election,  binding  him  to  uphold  the  privileges  of  the 
University ;  but  the  feud  was  not  to  be  thus  healed.     If 


100  The  University  of  Oxford 

we  duly  measure  the  distraction  of  energy  whicli  must 
have  resulted  from  such  perpetual  disorders,  and,  far 
more,  from  the  fierce  reliofious  animosities  which  long- 
convulsed  Oxford  and  plunged  other  countries  into  civil 
war — not  forgetting  the  constant  interruption  of  acade- 
mical residence  by  plague — we  shall  be  more  disposed 
to  marvel  at  the  intrinsic  vitality  of  the  University  than 
at  the  many  shortcomings  imputed  to  it,  when  the  death 
of  the  great  Queen  ushered  in  a  new  and  eventful  period 
in  its  history. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   UNIVERSITY    UNDEK  JAMES  I. 

The  influence  acquired  by  the  University  of  Oxford,  as 
a  power  in  the  State,  under  the  Tudor  dynasty,  was  fully 
TheUni-  maintained  by  it  under  the  Stuarts.  If  it 
proiLed  had  played  a  humbler  part  in  the  earlier  stages 
y  ames  .  ^^  ^|^^  Reformation  than  in  the  intellectual 
movement  of  the  Renaissance,  and  if  for  a  while  the 
Protestant  episcopate  had  been  mainly  recruited  from 
Cauibridge,  it  was  nevertheless  destined  to  bear  the 
brunt  of  those  storms  which,  already  gathering  in  the 
last  years  of  Elizabeth,  burst  over  Church  and  State  in 
the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Before  the 
accession  of  James  I.,  while  Church-government  had 
been  firmly  settled  on  an  Episcopalian  basis,  there  was 
room  for  much  latitude  of  opinion  within  the  National 
Church,  and  the  religious  sentiment  of  the  English 
people  was  strongly  Puritan.     This  dualism  was  faith- 


The  University  under  James  L         ioi 

fully  reflected  in  the  University,  where  the  Act  of  Uni- 
formity was  strictly  enforced,  and  there  was  a  growing 
preponderance  of  academical  anthority  on  the  side  of 
the  High  Church  party,  yet  several  Regius  Professors  of 
Divinity  in  succession  were  of  the  Puritan  school,  and 
a  deep  undercurrent  of  Puritanism  manifested  itself 
again  and  again  among  the  more  earnest  college  tutors 
and  students.  The  vigorous  protest  of  the  University 
against  the  famous  Millenary  petition  was  dictated  not 
so  much  by  distrust  of  its  Puritan  authorship  and  tone, 
as  by  hostility  to  its  proposals  for  reducing  the  value  of 
impropriations  in  the  hands  of  colleges.  Little  as  he 
understood  the  English  nation,  James  I.  was  not  slow 
to  appreciate  the  advantage  of  gaining  a  hold  upon  the 
Universities,  hastened  to  show  a  personal  interest  in 
them,  and  expressed  a  wi«h  to  be  consulted  about  all 
academical  affairs  of  importance.  In  the  very  year  of 
his  accession,  he  granted  letters  patent  to  both  Univer- 
sities, commanding  each  of  them  to  choose  two  grave 
and  learned  men,  professing  the  civil  law,  to  serve  as 
burgesses  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Though  he  was 
prevented  by  the  plague  from  visiting  Oxford  in  that 
year,  he  came  to  Woodstock  in  the  autumn  and  received 
the  University  authorities.  Two  years  later,  in  1605, 
he  entered  Oxford  on  horseback,  surrounded  by  an 
imposing  cavalcade  of  nobles  and  courtiers,  to  be  re- 
ceived, like  Elizabeth,  with  costly  banquets  and  pompous 
disputations,  to  which,  on  this  occasion,  was  added  a 
grand  musical  service  in  the  cathedral.  The  pedantic 
self-complacency  of  James  enabled  him  to  enjoy  in 
the  hio-hest  de^rree  all  the  frivolous  solemnities  of  this 
academic  ceremonial,  of  which  a  full  account  has  beea 


102  The  University  of  Oxford 

preserved  in  tlie  ^  Eex  Platonicus '  of  tlie  Public  Creator, 
Sir  Isaac  Wake.  It  is  remarkable  that  Anthony  Wood 
dates  tlie  progress  of  luxury,  with  drinking  in  taverns 
and  other  disorders,  from  the  festivities  lavished  on  this 
visit.  The  king  gave  a  further  proof  of  his  confidence 
in  Oxford,  by  entering  his  son  Prince  Henry,  a  youth 
of  great  promise,  who  died  prematurely  in  1612,  as  a 
student  at  Magdalen  College. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  James  I.'s  character, 
it  is  certain  that  he  was  animated  by  a  generous 
James  I.  s  partiality  for  the  Universities,  not  only  as 
vnudTiii?'  bulwarks  of  his  throne  but  as  seats  of  learn- 
^KUhe'*^  ing.  It  is  equally  certain  that  he  entered 
Church  iipon  his  reign  with  serious  and  practical  in- 
tentions of  Church  reform.  Accordingly,  in  1603,  he 
addressed  letters  to  the  Chancellors  of  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge, pointing  out  the  evils  and  abuses  resulting  from 
the  wholesale  diversion  of  Church  revenues,  by  means  of 
impropriation,  to  private  aggrandisement.  He  declared 
himself  ready  to  sacrifice  all  the  patronage  which  had 
thus  devolved  upon  the  Crown,  and  called  upon  the 
colleges  to  imitate  his  example  by  re-endowing  their 
benefices  with  tithes  for  the  support  of  efiicient  ministers. 
He  was  dissuaded  from  carrying  out  his  purpose  by  the 
remonstrances  of  Archbishop  Whitgift  and  others,  but 
in  1606,  after  the  discovery  of  the  Gunpowder  Plot, 
the  Universities  received  a  valuable  gift  in  the  right 
of  presenting  to  all  benefices  in  the  hands  of  Roman 
Catholic  patrons,  the  southern  counties  being  assigned 
to  Oxford,  the  northern  to  Cambridge.  They  were  also 
formally  exempted  from  liability  to  subsidies  on  three 
separate  occasions.     In  such  proofs  of  partiality  for  the 


The  University  under  James  I.        103 

Universities  James  was  but  following  out  the  policy  of 
Elizabeth,  Avho  had  clearly  grasped  the  expediency  of 
controlling  and  conciliating  the  great  seminaries  in 
which  the  national  clergy  were  educated.  x\t  first  his 
native  Calvinism  inclined  him  to  favour  the  Puritans, 
whose  intiuence  in  the  University  had  been  greatly 
strengthened  by  the  example  and  teaching  of  the  ad- 
mirable Laurence  Humphrey,  President  of  Magdalen, 
and  Regius  Professor  of  Divinity,  who  died  in  1589. 
But  he  gradually  discovered  the  natural  afiinity  between 
Arminian  theories  of  Church  authority  and  his  own 
theories  of  kingcraft,  as  well  as  the  preponderance  of 
the  former  in  the  clerical  order,  and  decisively  cast  in 
his  lot  with  the  High  Church  party.  In  the  grand 
straggle  betv\-een  the  ecclesiastical  courts  and  the 
conunon  law  judges,  the  Universities  wdth  the  great  body 
of  the  clergy  supported  the  King  and  the  archbishop  in 
sustaining  the  authority  of  the  former.  They  were 
again  associated  with  the  King  when  he  conferred  a 
lasting  benefit  on  the  English  Church  and  nation  by 
initiating  the  Authorised  Version  of  the  Bible.  In  this 
great  work  the  two  Universities  were  represented  almost 
equally,  and  among  the  Oxford  scholars  engaged  in  it 
we  find  seven  Heads  of  colleges  and  four  other  divines, 
who  afterwards  became  bishops.  There  is  some  reason, 
however,  to  believe  that  he  cherished  a  preference  for 
the  sister  University,  and  it  is  a  somewhat  remarkable 
fact  that  George  Caileton,  afterv/ard  bishop  of  Chiches- 
ter, was  the  only  Oxford  man  among  the  five  acade- 
mical divines  selected  by  him  to  represent  England  at 
the  Synod  of  Dort. 

In  the  year  1G03,  we  first  hear  of  '  Mr.  William 


104  The  University  of  Oxford 

LLiud,  B.D.  of  St.  Jolin's  College,'  as  proctor;  in  1608 
he  again  comes  under  notice,  as  preaching  in  St.  Mary's 
iiise  and  iu-  Church,  and  '  letting  fall  divers  passages 
Liuui  savouring    of   popery,'    which    brought    him 

under  the  censure  of  the  vice-chancellor.  Thence- 
I'orth  he  became  a  formidable  power,  and  ultimately  the 
ruling  spirit  in  the  University,  the  discipline  of  which 
he  persistently  laboured  to  reform.  The  eighteen  years 
which  elapsed  between  his  proctorship  and  his  retire- 
ment from  the  presidency  of  St.  John's,  in  1621,  were 
crowded  with  events  memorable  in  the  history  of  the 
English  Church.  The  failure  of  the  Hampton  Court 
Conference,  in  1601,  drove  the  Puritan  party,  at  last, 
into  active  opposition.  The  canons  enacted  in  the  Con- 
vocation of  the  same  year  compelled  the  clergy  to  sub- 
scribe the  Three  Articles  which  the  Parliament  of  1571 
had  expressly  refused  to  impose  upon  them  ;  and  the 
immediate  consequence  was  the  deprivation  of  three 
hundred  clergymen.  In  1606.  the  severity  of  the  laws 
against  Popish  recusants  was  increased,  and  the  arbi- 
trary jurisdiction  of  the  High  Commission  was  constantly 
extended  until  it  was  openly  challenged  by  the  common 
law  judges.  The  responsibility  of  supporting  the  king 
in  this  aggression  on  the  Constitution  rests,  in  part,  on 
Abbot,  formerly  Master  of  University  College,  whom  the 
Calvinistlc  party  at  Oxford  had  regarded  as  their  pro- 
tector against  Laud  and  his  associates,  but  who,  after 
succeeding  Bancroft  as  archbishop  in  1610,  strained  the 
powers  of  the  High  Commission  almost  as  far  as  Bancroft 
himself.  There  was  no  such  inconsistency  in  Laud, 
who,  from  the  first,  deliberately  set  himself  to  undo  the 
work  of  Leicester  as  Chancellor,  and  Humphrey  as  pro- 


The  University  under  James  L        105 

fessor  of  divinity  at  Oxford.     An   appeal  was  lodged 
against  him  by  the  opposite  party  when  he  was   elected 
President  of  St.  John's  in   1611,  but  the  election  was 
confirmed.     It  was  he  who  procured  the  publication,  in 
1616,  of  a  stringent  order  from  the  king,  by  the  advice 
cf  the  clergy  in  convention,  for  the  subscription  of  the 
Three  Articles  in  the  Thirty-sixth  Canon  by  every  can- 
didate for  a  degree,  for  strict  attendance  on  University 
sermons,  and  for  the  enforcement  of  other  safeguards 
against  heterodoxy.     This  was  not  the  first  time  that  the 
Convocation  of  the  clergy  had  presumed  to  meddle  with 
the  government  of  the  University,  for  another  canon, 
passed  in   1604,  had  required  surplices  to  be  worn  in 
college  chapels.     But,  of  course,  such  decrees  could  only 
be  enforced  by  the  action  of  the  Crown,  the  validity  of 
whose  jurisdiction  over  the  Universities  was,  in  itself, 
somewhat  doubtful.     In  this  case,  the  authority  of  the 
Chancellor,  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  was  employed  to  ob- 
tain compliance  with  the  order  which,  though  resented 
by  many,  was  obeyed.    In  1622,  the  University  Convo- 
cation gave  a  further  proof  of  obsequious  loyalty,  not 
only  by  publicly  burning  the  works  of  Parreus,  in  de- 
ference to  a  mandate  of  the  Privy  Council,  but  also  by 
passing  a  declaratory  resolution  absolutely  condemning 
resistance  to  a  reigning  sovereign,  offensive  or  defensive, 
upon  any  pretext  whatever.     This  solemn  affirmation  of 
the  doctrine  of  passive  obedience  was  the  more  signifi- 
cant  and  ignoble,  because  it  came  but  a  few  months 
after  the  Commons  had  recorded  a  solemn  protest  against 
the  violation  of  their  liberties,  and  the  king  had  torn  it 
out  of  their  Journal  with  his  own  hand.     The  progress 
of  Arminianism  in  the  Church  and  University  kept  pace 


io6  The  University  of  Oxford 

with  that  of  personal  government  in  the  State.  It  was 
in  1622  that  Coke,  Pym,  Sehlen,  and  others  were  im- 
prisoned for  disputing  the  royal  prerogative,  and  from 
this  year  Anthony  AVood  dates  '  such  an  alteration  in 
the  University,  that  the  name  of  Calvin  (which  had 
carried  all  before  it)  began  to  lessen  by  degrees.'  In 
the  great  crisis  of  the  next  reign  it  was  found  that 
Oxford  Puritanism  was  by  no  means  extinct,  but  the 
reactionary  creed  of  Laud  had  almost  exclusive  posses- 
sion of  the  University  pulpit,  and  soon  become  dominant. 
This  new  faith,  half  political,  half  theological,  and  affirm- 
ing at  once  the  divine  right  of  kings  and  the  divine 
right  of  bishops,  found  partial  expression  in  James's  own 
maxim — '  No  bishop,  no  king.'  Absolutism  allied  itself 
naturally  with  the  doctrinal  system  of  Arminianism  \  the 
creed  of  Laud,  embraced  long  ago  by  the  fatuous  King 
and  the  Court,  had  already  been  adopted  deliberately  by 
Prince  Charles  ;  it  was  now  to  become  the  official  creed 
of  Oxford  for  nearly  two  generations. 

During  the  whole  reign  of  James  I.  the  external 
condition  of  the  University  was  prosperous,  and  it  re- 
compietion  ceived  important  accessions,  both  in  buildings 
"scilooiv  and  endowments.  On  March  30,  1619,  the 
tiiu  uTwa^ci-  clay  following  the  burial  of  Sir  Thomas  Bodley 
i4mbruke  in  Mertou  College  Chapel,  the  first  stone  of 
0.  Gges  ^1^^  '^Q^R  Schools,  as  they  were  then  called, 
was  laid  by  his  coadjutor,  Sir  John  Bennett.  Two 
colleges,  Wadham  and  Pembroke,  owe  their  origin  to 
the  same  period.  The  former  was  founded  in  1610  by 
Dorothea,  widow  of  Nicholas  Wadham,  under  a  royal 
licence;  the  latter  was  founded  in  1624  by  James  I. 
himself,  but  endowed  at  the  cost  and  charges  of  Thomas 


The  University  under  James  /.        107 

Tesclale  and  Richard  Wiglitwick.  Ko  less  than  six 
professorships  were  instituted  during  the  same  period. 
The  first  two  of  these — the  professorships  of  geometry 
and  astronomy — bear  the  name  of  their  founder,  Sir 
Henry  Savile,  warden  of  Merton  College,  who  endowed 
them  in  1619.  In  the  quaint  language  of  Anthony 
Wood :  '  Beholding  the  Mathematick  Studies  to  be 
neglected  by  the  generality  of  men,  'twas  now  his 
desire  to  recover  them,  least  they  should  utterly  sink 
into  oblivion.'  These  benefactions,  and  the  growing 
wealth  of  colleges,  helped  to  strengthen  the  University 
in  the  esteem  of  the  upper  classes,  upon  which  it  nov/ 
depended  for  its  supply  of  studeuts.  According  to  a 
census  taken  in  1611,  the  number  of  residents  was 
2,420,  and  it  continued  to  increase  until  the  outbreak  of 
the  Civil  War. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE  UNIVERSITY  UNDER  CHARLES  I.  AND  LAUD. 

The  death  of  James  I.  and  the  succession  of  Charles  I. 
produced  no  break  in  the  continuity  either  of  national 
^  ,.       ,    or  of  academical  historv.     With  less  shrewd- 

Parliament  "^ 

at  Oxford  jjQgg  tJiaji  ]iis  father,  but  more  of  dignity  in 
his  character  and  bearing,  Charles  possessed  equal 
obstinacy,  and  equally  regarded  it  as  his  mission  to 
curtail  the  liberties  of  his  people,  in  the  interests  of  the 
Crown,  by  the  aid  of  the  new  State  Church.  The 
profligate  and  unscrupulous  Buckingham  retained  all 
liis  ascendency,  and  was  Charles's  trusted  confidant  in 


io8  The  University  of  Oxford 

politics.  Abbot  was  still  Arclibisliop  of  Canterbury, 
and  crowned  the  young  King  in  Westminster  Abbey, 
wliile  Laud  officiated  as  Dean  of  Westminster.  But 
Laud  was  Charles's  real  adviser  in  Church  affairs,  and 
his  evil  counsels  soon  brouo-ht  about  the  dise'race  of  his 
rival,  Abbot,  when  the  archbishop,  reverting  to  his 
earlier  principles,  boldly  opposed  the  arbitrary  and 
oppressive  policy  of  the  Court.  Though  he  was  no 
longer  president  of  St.  John's  College,  his  influence 
over  the  academical  body  was  never  relaxed,  and  was 
constantly  exercised  on  behalf  of  Arminianism  in  the 
Church,  and  absolutism  in  the  State.  It  was  some 
time,  however,  before  the  University  was  directly 
affected  by  the  storms  which  clouded  the  political 
horizon  from  the  very  beginning  of  Charles's  reign.  His 
first  Parliament,  it  is  true,  was  adjourned  to  Oxford  in 
the  Long  Vacation  of  1625,  on  account  of  the  plague 
then  raging  in  London,  and  all  the  colleges  and  halls 
were  cleared,  by  order  of  the  Privy  Council,  for  the 
reception  of  the  members.  The  Privy  Council  itself 
met  at  Christchurch,  the  House  of  Commons  sat  in  the 
divinity  school,  and  the  Lords  '  in  the  north  part  of  the 
picture  gallery,'  but  the  Parliament,  having  refused  to 
grant  supplies,  was  dissolved  within  a  fortnight.  The 
plague,  however,  had  followed  it  to  Oxford,  and  the 
commencement  of  Micha^elmas  term  had  to  be  postponed 
until  November  9.  In  1628  the  election  of  proctors 
was  attended  with  more  than  ordinary  tumult ;  the 
Chancellor  int^^rvened,  and  ultimately  the  King  took  the 
matter  into  his  own  hands,  referring  the  decision  of  it 
to  a  committee,  including  Laud,  who  practically  dic- 
tated their  nominees  to  the  University  Convocation.    In 


The  University  under  Charles  I.       109 

February  1629,  the  House  of  Commons,  wliicli  had 
obtained  the  King's  assent  to  the  Petition  of  Right,  took 
upon  itself,  by  a  letter  from  the  Speaker,  to  call  for  a 
return  of  all  persons  known  to  have  contravened  the 
Articles  of  Religion.  The  proctors  so  far  recognised 
the  validity  of  the  order  as  to  institute  an  inquiry,  bat 
Parliament  was  prorogued  not  long  afterwards,  and  the 
question  seems  to  have  dropped.  The  incident,  how- 
ever, is  not  without  its  importance,  as  indicating  the 
disposition  of  Parliament,  now  roused  into  active  oppo- 
sition, to  share  with  the  Crown  the  control  of  the  Uni- 
versity. On  August  27  in  the  same  year,  Charles  I., 
during  his  stay  at  Woodstock,  paid  his  first  state 
visit  to  Oxford,  and  was  entertained  with  his  queen  in 
Merton  College,  where  she  was  destined  to  be  lodged  so 
long  during  the  Civil  War,  of  which  the  premonitory 
signs  were  already  visible  to  far-sighted  observers. 

In  April  1630,  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  died,  and 
Laud,  now  bishop  of  London,  was  elected  Chancellor 
Chancellor-  ^^  ^^^^'  L^uivcrsity  by  a  very  narrow  majority 
ship  of  Laud  Qy^p  Philip,  Earl  of  Montgomery,  Pembroke's 
younger  brother.  His  chancellorship  lasted  eleven 
years,  and  was  terminated  by  his  resignation  in  1641. 
However  narrow  may  have  been  his  Church  policy,  he 
was  a  true  and  loyal  son  of  the  University,  by  which  he 
deserves  to  be  remembered  as  an  earnest  reformer  and 
liberal  benefactor.  It  was  at  his  instance  that  in  1629, 
the  year  before  he  became  Chancellor,  a  fin:d  end  was 
put  to  the  riotous  election  of  proctors  which  had  so 
often  disgraced  the  University  for  centuries.  This  was 
effected  by  the  simple  device  of  constructing  a  cycle, 
extending  over  twenty-three  years,  within  which  period 


no  The  University  of  Oxford 

a  certain  number  of  turns  was  assigned  to  each  college, 
according  to  its  size  and  dignity.  Tlie  inventor  of  tliis 
cycle  was  Peter  Turner,  of  Merton,  a  great  mathematician 
in  his  day,  and  it  fulfilled  its  object  by  entrusting  the 
nomination  of  proctors  to  individual  colleges,  each  of 
which  could  exercise  a  deliberate  choice,  instead  of  leaving 
it  to  be  fought  out  by  the  academical  democracy.  This 
salutary  change  was  accepted  by  the  University  Convoca- 
tion on  the  recommendation  of  the  king  and  the  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  but  its  real  originator  was  Laud.  His  efforts  to 
reform  the  discipline  and  morals  of  the  University  were 
equally  well  meant,  though  conceived  in  an  almost 
Puritanical  spirit  which  might  have  won  the  approval 
of  the  '  Precisians,'  who  hated  him  so  bitterly,  and  not 
without  good  cause.  These  efforts  extended  to  the 
colleges  of  which  he  was  Visitor,  and  were  carried  to  the 
length  of  minutely  regulating  every  detail  of  University 
life.  Attendance  at  sermons  and  services,  the  conduct  of 
disjDutations  in  theology  and  arts,  the  relations  between 
Masters  of  Arts  and  Bachelors  or  students,  the  forms 
aud  fashions  of  academical  costume,  the  proper  length  of 
scholars'  hair,  the  hours  of  meals,  the  custody  of  college 
gates,  the  presentation  to  college  benefices,  the  manage- 
ment of  college  property,  the  use  of  Latin  in  conversation 
as  well  as  fonnal  business,  the  enforcement  of  purity  in 
elections  to  fellowships — such  are  some  of  the  academical 
concerns  which  received  from  Laud  as  careful  attention 
as  the  highest  interests  of  the  Church  and  the  monarchy. 
In  one  respect,  indeed,  the  policy  of  Laud  strongly  re- 
sembled that  of  Leicester,  for  both  maintained  their 
influence  by  favouritism,  and  kept  up  a  regular  corre- 
sx^ondence  with  confidential  agents  at  Oxford,  through 


The  University  under  Charles  /.       in 

whom  they  were  informed  of  everything  that  passed 
there.  But  while  Leicester's  inquisitorial  vigilance  was 
directed  not  only  against  disturbers  of  the  peace  but 
against  persons  suspected  of  Romanism,  that  of  Laud 
was  directed  against  Puritans  and  Calvinists. 

The  greatest  and  most  permanent  result  of  Laud's 
chancellorship  was  the  compilation  of  the  famous  code, 
Compilation  kuown  as  tlic  '  Laudiau  '  or  '  Caroline '  Statutes, 
statutes"^^    which  contiuucd  to  govern  the  University  for 
more  than  two  centuries.     From  time  immemorial,  the 
L^niversity  had    claimed  and    exercised   the   power  of 
making,    repealing,    and    revising    its   own    statutes. 
Under  the  chancellorship  of  Archbishop  Warham,  in 
1513,  this  power  had  been  delegated  to  a  committee  of 
seven,  and  again,  in  1518,  it  was  delegated  to  Cardinal 
Wolsey,  in  spite  of  the  'Chancellor's  protest;    but  in 
both  cases,  it  was  the  University  Congregation  whicli 
conferred  the  commission,  under  which,  however,  very 
little   seems  to  have   been    done.     Tlie  commissioners 
of  Edward  VI.  were  appointed  under  the  Great  Seal, 
and  drew  up  the  '  Edvvardine   Statutes,'  by  virtue  of 
an  authority  independent  of  the  University.     Cardinal 
Pole,   on  the  contrary,  issued   his   Ordinances,  in  his 
capacity  of  Chancellor,  provisionally  only,  until  a  dele- 
gacy of  Convocation  should  decide  upon  the  necessary 
alterations.     Similar  delegacies  were  appointed  by  the 
authority  of  Convocation,  as  it  was  then  called,  on  seve- 
ral occasions  during  the  reign  of  Elizabeth ;  and  though 
in  the  reigns  of  her  two  successors  many  ordinances 
were  sent  down  by  the  Crown,  they  were  not  accepted 
as  operative  until  they  had  been  embodied  in  statutes, 
or  adopted  in  express  terms  by  Convocation.     Even  in 


112  The  University  of  Oxford 

1628,  when  the  proctors  had  endeavoured  to  obstruct 
the  proposed  statutes  regulating  proctorial  elections, 
and  the  king  threatened  with  his  condign  displeasure 
those  who  should  persist  in  opposing  them,  Convocation 
went  through  the  form  of  enacting  them  by  its  own 
decree.  The  same  course  was  taken  in  1629,  under 
Lord  Pembroke's  chancellorship,  but  at  Laud's  instiga- 
tion, when  the  delegacy  was  nominated  to  codif}^  the 
statutes,  which  then  lay,  as  Laud  said,  '  in  a  miserable 
confused  heap.'  The  work  occupied  four  years,  and, 
when  it  was  completed,  the  University  placed  the  new 
code  in  the  hands  of  Laud,  with  full  power  to  make 
additions  or  alterations.  He  corrected  the  draught,  and 
in  July  1634  directed  a  copy  to  be  deposited  in  each 
college  or  hall  for  a  year,  during  which  amendments 
might  be  suggested.  At  last,  in  June  1636,  Laud 
finally  promulgated,  and  the  King  solemnly  confirmed, 
the  '  Corpus  Statutorum,'  as  they  were  ofiicially  desig- 
nated, and  the  University  Convocation  formally  accepted 
them,  with  the  most  fulsome  professions  of  gratitude  to 
its  Chancellor,  and  of  confidence  in  the  eternity  of  their 
own  legislation.  This  confidence  was  not,  and  could 
not  be,  justified  by  events ;  but  an  impression  long  pre- 
vailed that  the  Laudian  statutes,  though  capable  of 
extension,  were  as  incapable  of  alteration  as  the  laws 
of  the  Medes  and  Persians.  It  is,  indeed,  very  remark- 
able that,  with  a  few  trifling  additions,  these  statutes 
proved  capable  of  being  worked  practically  until  they 
were  superseded,  in  many  essential  particulars,  by  the 
University  Reform  Act  of  1854. 

These  statutes  were  for  the  most  part,  a  digest  of 
those  already  in  force,  but  embodied  also  new  regula- 


The  University  under  Charles  I.       113 

tions  of  great  importance,  such  as  those  for  tlie  govern- 
ment of  the  University  by  the  '  Hebdomadal  Board,' 
Main  for  the  election  of  proctors  according  to  the 

theT.'i.udiLu  cycle  recently  established,  for  the  nomination 
statutes  ^£  (  collectors '  (to  preside  over  '  determina- 
tions'),  and  for  the  conduct  of  public  examinations. 
The  principle  of  placing  the  main  control  of  academical 
affairs  in  the  hands  of  heads  of  colleges  and  halls  had 
already  been  established  by  Leicester,  but  it  was  now 
reduced  to  a  fundamental  law,  and  the  vice-chancellor, 
with  the  Heads  of  Houses  and  proctors,  was  formally 
entrusted  with  the  whole  administration  of  the  Uni- 
versity. This  statute  effectually  stereotyped  the  ad- 
ministrative monopoly  of  the  colleges,  and  destroyed 
all  trace  of  the  old  democratic  constitution  which  had 
been  controlled  only  by  the  authority  of  the  mediseval 
Church.  The  same  oligarchical  tendency  may  be 
discerned  in  the  statute  which  converted  the  popular 
and  public  election  of  proctors  by  the  common  suffrages 
of  all  the  Masters  into  a  private  election  by  the  Doctors 
and  Masters  of  a  certain  standing  in  each  college,  how- 
ever beneficial  its  effect  may  have  been  in  checking  the 
abuses  of  tumultuous  canvassing.  While  the  dignity  of 
the  procuratorial  office  was  thus  sensibly  reduced,  that 
of  the  vice-chancellor's  office  was  proportionably  en- 
hanced. The  Laudian  Code  legalised  the  practice  re- 
sumed by  Leicester,  directing  that  the  vice-chancellor 
should  be  nominated  annually  from  the  heads  of  colleges 
by  the  Chancellor,  with  the  assent  of  Convocation.  As 
vicegerent  of  the  Chancellor,  and  chairman  of  the  Heb- 
domadal Board,  he  gradually  acquired  a  |  osition  of 
greater  authority  and  independence  than  had  formerly 

I 


114  The  University  of  Oxford 

belonged  to  liim.  Under  Land's  chancellorsliip,  indeed, 
lie  was  expected  to  make  a  weekly  report  to  liis  chief  on 
tlie  state  of  tlie  University ;  but  later  Chancellors  were 
neither  so  conscientious  nor  so  meddlesome,  and,  in 
default  of  urgent  necessity  for  their  intervention,  were 
at  last  content  to  be  regarded  as  ornamental  personages, 
rather  than  as  the  actual  rulers  of  the  University.  One 
•of  the  vice-chancpllor's  chief  duties  at  this  period  was 
to  guard  the  orthodoxy  of  the  University  pulpit,  and 
there  are  num^erous  instances  of  preachers  being  sum- 
moned before  him  for  controverting  Arminian  doctrines, 
and  forced  to  sign  humble  recantations  of  their  errors. 
Where  they  proved  refractory,  the  royal  prerogative 
was  promptly  invoked  to  coerce  them. 

The  course  of  study,  and  standard  of  examination, 
prescribed  by  the  Laudian  statutes  were  so  much 
studies  and  beyond  the  requirements  of  later  times  that 
tions  under  we  may  wcll  doubt  whether  either  can  have 
statutes  been  strictly  enforced.  The  B.A.  degree, 
which  then  concluded  the  first  stage  of  an  academical 
career,  might  be  taken  at  the  end  of  the  fourth 
year,  and  the  student  was  bound  to  have  attended 
lectures  in  grammar,  rhetoric,  the  Ethics,  Politics, 
and  Economics  of  Aristotle,  logic,  moral  philosophy, 
geometry,  and  Greek.  In  order  to  attain  the  M.A. 
degree,  three  more  years  were  to  be  spent  in  study- 
ing geometry,  astronomy,  metaphysics,  natural  philo- 
sophy, Greek,  and  Hebrew.  Making  every  allowance 
for  the  longer  residence  of  thos*e  days,  as  well  as  for 
the  lower  conception  of  proficiency  in  these  subjects, 
we  cannot  but  admire  the  comprehensive  range  of  this 
curriculum,  and  admit  that  if  it  was  actually  accom- 


The  University  under  Charles  I.       115 

plislied  by  a  majority  of  students,  tlie  race  of  passmen 
in  the  seventeenth  century  must  have  been  cast  in  an 
heroic    mould.      Disputations,  which  had   long    fallen 
into  discredit,  were   now^  superseded   by  a  system  of 
public  examinations,  the  germs  of  which  are  to  be  found 
in  an  obsolete  statute  of  1588,   if  not  in  the   earlier 
statutes  of  Edward  VI.     The  examinations  for  the  B.A. 
and  M.A.  degrees,  respectively,  were  to  be  in  the  sub- 
jects in  wdiich  the  candidates  were  statutably  bound  to 
have  previously  heard  lectures,  and  special  regard  was 
to  be  paid  to  fluency  in  Latin,  but  they  can  scarcely 
have  been  effective  according  to  modern  ideas.     They 
were  to   be  conducted,  in  rotation,  by  all  the  regent 
masters,  under  the  orders  of   the  senior  proctor  ;^  the 
method  of  interrogation  seems  to  have  been  exclusively 
oral;  and  the  authority  of  Aristotle  was  to  be  paramount 
within  the  whole  sphere  of  his  voluminous  writings.    As 
the  ordinary  period  of  residence  waxed  shorter,  and  the 
University  relaxed  its  authority  over  its  own  teachers,  • 
the  examination  system  of  Laud,  though  it  nominally 
nurvived  for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half,  became 
almost  as  illusory  as  the  old  scholastic  disputations. 

The  effusive  gratitude  manifested  by  the  University 
towards  Laud,  on  the  publication  of  his '  Caroline '  statutes, 
Service,  of  was  partly,  no  doubt,  the  expression  of  party 
unlwty'  spirit,  but  it  was  also  justified  by  his  great 
services.  He  presented  to  the  Library  a  splendid  collec- 
tion of  Oriental  manuscripts,  besides  procuring  valuable 
gifts  of  literary  treasures  from  others ;  he  founded  and 
endowed  the  professorship  of  Arabic  ;  he  persuaded  the 
King  to  annex  canonries  of  Christ  church  to  the  profes- 
sorship of  Hebrew  and  the  office  of  Public  Orator— which 

I  2 


ii6  The  University  of  Oxford 

last  grant  was  never  confirmed  by  Parliament ;  lie 
obtained  for  the  University  the  right  of  printing  Bibles, 
hitherto  the  monopoly  of  the  King's  printers ;  and  he 
secured  for  it  a  wqw  charter  extending  all  its  ancient 
liberties  and  privileges.  Two  important  acquisitions 
made  by  the  University  under  the  chancellorship  of 
Laud  are  not  known  to  have  been  specially  due  to  his 
initiative.  The  earlier  of  these  was  the  foundation  of 
the  Botanic  Gardens  in  1632,  though  its  completion  was 
delayed  by  the  Civil  War.  The  Convocation  House, 
adjoining  the  Divinity  School,  was  begun  in  1634  and 
finished  in  1638,  with  an  extension  of  the  Bodleian 
Library  above  it,  and  the  aporhjt&riam  at  its  north  end, 
where  the  Chancellor's  Court  is  still  held.  It  was  first 
used  in  October  1638.  By  this  time,  if  we  may  trust 
Anthony  Wood,  the  University  had  recovered  its  popu- 
larity, and  numbered  at  least  4,000  scholars.  No 
wonder  that  loval  sons  of  Oxford  looked  back  with  fond 
regret  to  Laud's  chancellorship  during  the  evil  days  of 
the  Civil  War  and  the  Commonwealth.  Nor  should  it 
be  forgotten  that  if  his  intolerance  of  schism  made  him 
a  persecutor  of  the  Puritans,  he  also  set  himself  to 
exclude  Bomish  priests  from  the  University ;  or  that  he 
reconverted  Chillingworth  to  Angiicanism,  and  rewarded 
with  a  canonry  the  learning  of  John  Hales,  wdiose  views 
of  Church  government  conflicted  greatly  with  his  own. 

Though  Laud  continued  to  preside  over  the  Uni- 
versity until  1641,  the  glory  of  his  chancellorship  was 
La?t  five  years  crowucd  bv  a  solcmn  visit  of  the  Kina'  and 

of  Laud's  r^     r       n  i  n  r>       * 

dialled  orsiiip  (^ucen  to  Uxiord  at  the  end  of  August 
1636.  This  v:'sit  lasted  three  days,  and  was  attended 
by  all  the  usual  ceremonials,  including  the  performance 


The  University  under  Charles  I.       117 

of  comedies  at  Christchurcli  and  St.  John's,  Laud's 
own  college.  The  Elector  Palatine  and  his  brother,  the 
famous  Prince  Rupert,  received  honorar}^  M.A.  degrees 
on  this  occasion.  After  this  it  may  well  be  imagined 
that  Laud  had  little  or  no  leisure  for  academical  cares 
until  his  resignation  of  the  chancellorship  by  a  pathetic 
letter  dated  from  the  Tower  on  June  26,  1641.  Within 
this  interval  of  five  years,  the  great  controversy  about 
the  payment  of  ship-money  had  come  to  a  head  ;  judg- 
ment had  been  given  against  John  Hampden  ;  Prynne, 
Burton,  and  Eastwick  had  been  condemned  to  the  pillory 
for  their  writings  ;  Charles's  fourth  Parliament  had  met 
after  eleven  years  of  personal  government  and  been 
promptly  dissolved ;  the  Scotch  army,  after  halting  on 
the  border  in  1639,  had  invaded  Yorkshire  in  1640  ; 
the  High  Commission  Court  had  been  closed  for  ever ; 
the  Long  Parliament  had  commenced  its  sittings,  and 
impeached  both  Strafford  and  Laud  ;  the  Triennial  Act 
had  been  passed ;  the  bishops  had  been  excluded  from 
the  House  of  Lords ;  the  King  had  agreed  that  Parlia- 
ment should  not  be  adjourned  or  dissolved  without  its 
own  consent ;  Strafford  had  been  executed ;  and  the 
'  Root  and  Branch  Bill '  for  the  abolition  of  Episcopacy 
had  been  read  in  the  Commons.  Nevertheless,  Laud  had 
found  time  for  close  and  constant  attention  to  University 
and  college  business.  It  was  in  1638  that  he  instituted 
a  regular  examination  for  the  B. A.  and  M.A.  degrees.  In 
1639,  he  sent  another  donation  of  books,  gave  stringent 
directions  for  the  repression  of  disorders  in  the  Convo- 
cation House,  and  made  special  efforts  to  put  down 
drinking  parties  in  colleges  and  halls,  which  had  come 
into    vogue,    since    '  the    scholars    (not    excepting   the 


ii8  The  University  of  Oxford 

seniors)  had  been  liunted  out  of  alehouses  and  taverns 
by  the  vice-chancellor  and  proctors  constant  walking  ' — ■ 
a  result  of  his  own  discii3linar3^  vigour.     In  November 
IGiO,  he  sent  his  last  present  of  books,  pleading  a  want 
of  leisure,  for  the  first  time,  in  excuse  for  the  brevity  of 
his  letter.     He  was  now  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies, 
and  it  was  freely  alleged  in  the  House  of  Commons  that, 
through  his  influence,  the  University  was  infected  with 
Popery.      Accordingly,  on  December  14,  a  statement 
was  drawn  up  and  signed  by  all  the  Heads  of  Houses, 
except  Rogers,  Principal  of  New  Inn  Hall,  declaring 
^  that  they  knew  not  any  one  member  of  this  University 
guilty  of,  or  addicted  to,  Popery.'  Parliament,  however, 
ordered  the  books  and  registers  of  the  University  to  be 
sent  up  to  London,  with  a  view  of  extracting  materials 
from    the  Acts    of  Convocation   to   serve  as  evidence 
against  Laud.     Among  the  ofifences  imputed  to  him  at 
his  trial,  several  related  specially  to  his  administration 
of  the  University.     He  was  accused  of  causing  old  cru- 
cifixes to  be  repaired  and  new  ones  to  be  set  up  ;  of 
turning  Communion  tables  '  altarwise,'  railing  them  in, 
and  enjoining  that  obeisance  should  be  made  to  them  ; 
of  encouraging  the  use  of  copes ;  of  instituting  Latin 
prayers  in  Lent;    of  introducing  superstitious  proces- 
sions ;  above  all,  of  erecting  '  a  very  scandalous  statue 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  with  Christ  in  her  arms,'  over  the 
new    porch    of    St.    Mary's    Church.       Some    of  these 
alleged  acts  were  denied  by  the    archbishop  ;    others 
were   admitted  and  defended  as    consistent   with   the 
received  doctrine  of  the  Church.    Perhaps  none  of  them 
would  be  regarded  by  an  impartial  critic  of  Laud's  trial 
as  heinous  enough  to  sustain  a  charge  of  high  treason, 


The  University  under  Charles  I.      119 

or,  indeed,  as  having  any  bearing  whatever  on  such  a 
charge. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  shortcomings  of 
Oxford  in  the  generation  which  preceded  the  Civil  War, 
„  .  it  certainly  produced  a  number  of  men  whose 

Eminent  -^    *■ 

monibersof    leaminoT   and   piety    mi^'ht    have    adorned   a 

the  Univer-  o  r        *-  o 

sity  in  the     happiei'  and  more  peaceful  age.     Among  the 

generation  ^^  ^  *^  , 

prcc  •<iing      Heads  of  colleofes  who  held  office  under  x^aud  s 

the  Civil  o 

Wars  short  chancellorship  were  John  JPrideaux,  feir 

Nathaniel  Brent,  Gilbert  Sheldon,  Brian  Duppa,  Samuel 
Fell,  and  Juxon,  and  while  the  headships  of  colleges 
were  filled  by  such  men  as  these,  others  not  less 
eminent  represented  the  University  in  other  capacities. 
In  his  rectory  at  Penshurst,  and  afterwards  in  his  rooms 
at  Christchurch,  Hammond  was  maturing  a  theologi- 
cal knowledge  which  has-  placed  him  among  standard 
English  divines;  Bainbridge  was  prosecuting  at  Merton 
important  researches  in  astronomical  science;  Earle, 
afterwards  tutor  to  Prince  Charles,  and  bishop  of  Salis- 
bury, was  serving  in  the  office  of  senior  proctor  ;  Sel- 
den  was  acting  as  burgess  for  the  University  ;  and  Brian 
Twyne  was  amassing  those  antiquarian  stores  which 
supplied  the  most  valuable  materials  for  the  marvellous 
industry  of  Anthony  Wood. 

The  characteristic  features  of  University  life  in  the 
period  immediately  preceding  the  Civil  War  contrasted 
University  equally  with  those  which  had  distinguished 
life  in  the      -^  •     ^^    Middle  A(?es  and  those  which  dis- 

generntion       xi^    -i"-    ^  o 

thTcivu'      tinguisli  it  in  the  present  day.    The  academi- 
^^'^""^  cal  community  had  become  far  less  democratic 

and  more  outwardly  decorous  since  the  suppression  of 
^  chamber-dekyns,'   and  the    concentration   of  all   the 


120  The  University  of  Oxford 

students  into  colleges  and  lialls.  The  Heads  of  colleges, 
invested  with  special  privileges  and  absolute  control 
over  University  legislation,  were  now  permanently 
resident,  and  had  greater  power  of  keeping  good  order 
than  had  ever  belonged  to  the  proctors,  vainly  striving 
to  enforce  discipline  among  thousands  of  beggarly 
non-collegiate  students.  On  the  other  hand,  there  was 
less  unity  in  college  society  ;  for,  while  Bachelor  fellows 
were  still  an  inferior  grade,  and  bound  to  '  cap '  Master 
fellows  in  the  quadrangles,  a  new  class  of  '  commoners ' 
liad  sprung  up,  mostly  consisting  of  richer  men,  and 
holding  aloof  from  members  of  the  foundation.  '  Town 
and  gown  rows'  were  not  unknown,  and  the  ancient 
jealousy  between  the  city  and  the  University  was  in- 
tensified by  the  g-rowth  of  religious  and  political 
differences  ;  but  the  peace  was  far  better  kept,  and  the 
streets  of  Oxford  were  no  longer  the  scene  of  sanguinary 
afirays.  Whether  the  morality  of  the  students  was  essen- 
tially improved  is  open  to  more  doubt.  Judging  by  the 
constant  repetition  of  censures  on  their  conduct  from 
chancellors  and  Visitors,  we  might  infer  that  Oxford  was 
quite  demoralised.  After  all,  however,  most  of  these  cen- 
sures are  not  so  much  directed  ao-ainst  o'rave  offences  as 
against  extravagance  in  dress  and  breaches  of  academical 
decorum,  and  it  is  impossible  not  to  suspect  that  over- 
regulation  had  something  to  do  with  the  perverse  neglect 
of  rules  among  undergraduates.  It  is  the  variety  of  legiti- 
mate outlets  for  youthful  spirits  and  energy  which  in 
modern  times  has  been  found  the  best  antidote  for  vouth- 
ful  vices,  and  if  we  realise  the  conditions  of  undergraduate 
society  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
we  shall  rather  be  disposed  to  wonder  at  the  standard 


The  University  under  Charles  I.       121 

of  virtue  beinsf  so  hisrli  as  it  seems  to  liave  been.  One 
of  these  conditions  was  the  overcrowding  of  colleges  due 
to  the  disappearance  of  hostels.  Where  two  or  three 
students  habitually  shared  the  same  room,  and  a  poor 
scholar  rarely  enjoyed  the  conifort  of  a  bed  to  himself, 
unless  it  were  a  truckle-bed  in  his  patron's  chamber, 
the  self-respect  and  graceful  courtesy  which  is  now 
traditional  among  well-bred  young  Englishmen  at  the 
University  could  scarcely  be  cultivated  at  all.  The 
tutorial  system  already  existed  in  colleges,  and  the 
personal  relations  thus  established  between  tutors  and 
pupils  were  sometimes  productive  of  very  beneficial 
results ;  but  outside  these  relations  there  was  little 
sympathy  and  kindly  intercourse  between  members  of 
different  colleges  or  different  classes  in  the  same  college. 
]\Ianly  sports  were  not  unknown,  but  they  were  chiefly 
of  the  rougher  sort,  and  discouraged  by  the  authorities. 
We  hear  little  of  boating,  or  even  of  riding,  and  cricket 
had  not  yet  been  invented,  but  football  was  vigorously 
played,  and  led  to  so  many  warlike  encounters  between 
the  combatants  that  it  was  regarded  with  little  favour 
by  vice-chancellors.  Archery  was  still  practised,  as 
well  as  quoits,  and  ninepins  or  skittles,  but  these 
last  games  were  coupled  with  bull-baiting,  bear-bait- 
ing, cock-fights,  common  plays,  and  public  shows,  in 
official  warnings  to  undergraduates  against  unlawful 
pastimes.  Even  James  I.,  who  prided  himself  on  his 
'  Book  of  Sports  '  as  much  as  on  his  invectives  against 
tobacco,  issued  royal  letters  condemning  them,  appar- 
ently because,  though  not  intrinsically  evil,  they  brought 
great  crowds  of  people  together,  who  might  break  out 
into  disorder.     In  short,  it  may  safely  be  said  that  an 


122  The  University  of  Oxford 

Oxford  student  in  the  reigns  of  James  I.  and  Charles  I. 
had  less  recognised  liberty  than  a  public-school  boy  in 
the  reign  of  Victoria,  the  natural  result  of  which  was 
that  he  was  all  the  more  disposed  to  rebel  against 
discipline.  Meanwhile  his  studies,  though  mainly 
classical  in  their  subjects,  and  mainly  conducted  within 
the  walls  of  his  college,  were  largely  scholastic  in 
their  methods.  The  University  was  still,  above  all,  a 
training-school  for  the  clerical  profession  rather  than 
for  the  general  world. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   UNIVERSITY   DURING   THE   CIVIL   WARS,   AND   THE 

SIEGE    OF   OXFORD. 

The  part  to  be  taken  by  the  University  of  Oxford  in  the 
great  national  struggle  now  impending  was  never  for  a 
The  univer-  moment  doubtful.     Throuo'hout  its  history  it 

sity  sides  i        i     i  n  i  inn 

with  the        had  lovally  acknowledg-ed  not  merely  the  su- 

Kingandthe  "         d    ^        r^  •       • 

Churcii  premacy  oi  the  Crown,  m  its  capacity  of  para- 
mount Visitor,  but  the  jurisdiction  of  the  High  Com- 
mission and  other  exertions  of  the  prerogative  lately 
challenged  by  the  Commons,  while  it  stood  committed 
by  its  own  solemn  vote  to  the  doctrine  of  passive 
obedience.  It  was  still  more  closely  identified  with  the 
Church.  Its  property  had  always  been  treated  in  ancient 
times  as  ecclesiastical,  being  constantly  taxed  by  votes 
of  the  Convocation  of  Canterbury,  and  constantly  ex- 
emptedj  by  royal   letters,  from  taxes  payable  on  the 


The  University  during  the  Civil   Wars     123 

lands  and  tenements   of  laymen.     Its  representatives 
had  attended  the  great  Councils  of  the  AVestern  Church  ; 
its  Chancellor  had  always  been  a  great  ecclesiastic  until 
the  Reformation  ;  nearly  all  the  Visitors  of  its  colleges 
were  still  great  ecclesiastics ;  and  the  recent  imposition 
of  test-oaths,  including  those  prescribed  by  a  purely 
ecclesiastical  canon,  on  all  its  students,  coupled  with  the 
clerical   restrictions    on  most   college  fellowships,  had 
effectually  rendered  it  an  integral  part  of  the  Anglican 
Church.     Xo  doubt,  it  contained  a  strong  Puritan  ele- 
ment which  sympathised  with  the  Parliament,  but  the 
overwhelming  majority  were  heartily  on  the  side  of  the 
Church  and  the  King,  and  proved  themselves  capable  of 
great  sacrifices  for  the  cause  w^hich  they  espoused.    The 
first  overt  act  of  the  University  in  support  of  these 
principles  was  taken  on  April  24,  1641,  in  the  form  of 
a  '  Petition  made  to  the  high  and  honourable  Court  of 
Parliament   in  behalf  of  Episcopacy  and  Cathedralls.' 
This  petition  was  accompanied  by  another  to  the  same 
effect,  bearing  the  signatures  of  almost  all  the  resident 
graduates,  and  derives  additional  significance  from  its 
date.    But  a  few  months  before,  the  canons  lately  passed 
by  the  Convocation  of  Canterbury  had  been  declared 
illegal  by  the  Commons,  and  the  Bill  to  exclude  bishops 
from  the  House  of  Lords  had  just  been  introduced. 
Nevertheless,  the  University  did  not  hesitate  to  press 
upon  Parliament,  now  in  no  placable  mood,  the  duty  of 
maintaining  not  only  '  the  ancient  and  Apostolicall  Order' 
of  bishops,  but  also  '  those  pious  Foundations  of  Cathe- 
drall  Churches,  with  their  Lands  and  Revenewes.'    Some 
of  the  reasons  alleged  in  support  of  the  petition  are  grave 
and  weighty  \  others,  if  less  solid,  are  still  more  interest- 


124  The  University  of  Oxford 

ing  as  indications  of  the  light  in  which  Church  prefer- 
ments were  then  regarded  by  University  graduates. 
For  instance,  cathedral  endowments  are  extolled  ^  as  the 
principal  outward  motive  of  all  Students,  especially  in 
Divinitie,  and  the  fittest  reward  of  some  deep  and 
eminent  Schollars ;  as  affording  a  competent  portion  in 
an  ingenuous  way  to  many  younger  Brothers  of  good 
Parentage  who  devote  themselves  to  the  Ministery  of 
the  Gospell ;  as  the  onely  meanes  of  subsistence  to  a 
multitude  of  Ofiicers  and  other  Ministers,  who  with  their 
families  depend  upon  them ;  as  the  maine  Authors  or 
Upholders  of  divers  Schooles,  Hospitalls,  Highwaies, 
Bridges,  and  other  publique  and  pious  works  ;  as  the 
cheife  support  of  many  thousand  families  of  the  Laity, 
who  enjoy  faire  estates  from  them  in  a  free  way ;  and 
as  funds  by  which  many  of  the  learned  Professors  in  our 
University  are  maintained.'  It  was  hardly  to  be  ex- 
pected that  such  arguinents  should  prevail  with  Pym 
and  Hampden,  Prynne  and  Holies ;  nor  can  we  be  sur- 
prised to  learn  that  '  the  answer  to  it  was  very  incon- 
siderable.' It  was,  however,  presented  to  the  King  on 
the  following  day,  and  his  reply,  preserved  by  Anthony 
Wood,  is  memorable  as  showing  how  resolutely  he  linked 
the  fortunes  of  his  Crown  with  those  of  the  Church.  He 
declared  openly  that  he  knew  the  clergy  were  suffering 
because  of  their  fidelity  to  him,  protested  that  he  would 
rather  feed  on  bread  and  water  than  '  mingle  any  part 
of  God's  patrimonie  with  his  owne  revenewes ;  '  insisted 
that  '  Learning  and  Studies  must  needs  perish  if  the 
honors  and  rewards  of  Learning  were  destroyed  ; '  and 
predicted  that  '  Monarchy  would  not  stand  long  if  the 
Hierarchy  perish.' 


The  University  during  the  Civil   Wars     125 

Within  a  month  after  the  presentation  of  this  peti- 
tion Strafford  had  been  executed,  and  the  'Root  and 
The  Com-      Branch    Bill'    for    the    complete  abolition  of 
auor.ierfor   Episcopacj  had  been  read  in  the  Commons. 
sity  '"'''^''"    Two  mouths  later   (July  1641)  the  Courts  of 
Star  Chamber  and  High  Commission,  with  the  arbitrary 
jurisdiction  of  the  King's  Council,  had  ceased  to  exist. 
On  November  22  the  '  Grand  Remonstrance'  was  passed, 
containing  an  elaborate  indictment  against  the  Crown  for 
all  the  unconstitutional  acts  committed  since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  reign,  and  an  appeal  to  the  people  of  England. 
Then  followed  in  quick  succession  the  King's  attempt  to 
arrest  the  five  members  in  the  House  of  Commons,  his 
final  departure  from  London,  his  refusal  to  place  the 
custody  of  fortified   places    and  the   command  of  the 
militia  in  the  hands  of  the  Parliament,  the  levy  of  forces 
on  both  sides,  the  rejection  by  the  King  of  an  ultimatum 
sent  by  the  Parliament,  and  the  erection  of  the  royal 
standard  at  Nottingham,  on  A^ugust  22,  1642.    Of  these 
momentous  events  the  University  was,  of  course,  a  mere 
spectator ;  but  the  House  of  Commons  found  leisure,  in 
the  midst  of  its  preparations  for  war,  to  guard  its  own 
interests  at  Oxford.     On  June  28,  1641,  it  issued  an 
order  purporting  to  abolish  the  obligation  of  subscription 
to  the  Three  Articles  of  the  Thirty-sixth  Canon,  as  well 
as  that  of  doing  reverence  to  the  Communion-table,  which 
seems  to  have  been  enjoined  in  sorme  of  the  colleges. 
This  order  was  actually  read  in  Convocation,  and  was 
followed  in  February  1642  by  the  receipt  of  a  '  Protesta- 
tion,' which  the  Speaker,  in  the  name  of  the  House,  called 
upon  the  vice-chancellor  and  Heads  of  colleges  to  take 
and  impose  upon  all  members,  and  even  servants,  of  the 


126  The  University  of  Oxford 

University,  being  of  the  age  of  eighteen  years  and  up- 
wards. This  Protestation,  conceived  in  a  moderate  tone, 
bound  the  subscriber  to  uphold  Protestantism  and  the 
union  between  the  three  kingdoms  of  England,  Scotland, 
and  Ireland.  As  it  contained  a  profession  of  allegiance 
to  the  Crown,  as  well  as  of  respect  for  the  power  and 
privileges  of  Parliament,  it  was  generally  signed,  though 
many  loyal  Protestants  objected  to  it  as  dictated  by  a 
party  on  the  NQv^<d  of  rebellion. 

In  the  summer  of  1642,  war,  though  not  actually 
declared,  was  felt  to  be  inevitable,  and  both  the  king  and 
contribu-      the  Parliament  were  already  raisino-  supplies 

tionforthe      „  ^  .  A        t    i       ^T    r^t       i 

King's ser-  lor  tlio  autumu  Campaign.  On  July  7,  Oharles 
first' occupa-  I.^  then  at  York,  addressed  a  requisition  to 
Oxford  by      Pridcaux,    as    vice-chancellor,    invitinfy    the 

Parliament-  pi-  •        i 

ary  troops  collegcs  to  Contribute  money  for  his  service  by 
way  of  loan  at  eight  per  cent,  interest,  alleging  that 
similar  aid  had  already  been  received  by  his  enemies. 
Convocation  immediately  voted  away  all  the  reserve 
funds  in  Savile's,  Bodley's,  and  the  University  chest, 
but  it  does  no '3  appear  that  any  contributions  of  plate 
were  made  by  the  colleges  on  this  occasion.  On  July 
12,  Parliament  issued  an  order  declaring  this  requisition 
illegal,  and  directing  watch  and  guard  to  be  set  on  all 
highways  about  Oxford ;  but  it  appears  from  a  letter  of 
the  king,  dated  from  Beverley  on  July  18,  that  a  large 
subsidy  had  then  reached  him.  At  the  same  time,  he 
addressed  letters  to  the  Commissioners  of  Array  for  the 
county,  the  high  sheriff,  and  the  mayor  of  Oxford,  spe- 
cially requesting  them  to  protect  the  Universit}^  in  case 
of  attack.  In  the  middle  of  August  several  hundred 
o-raduates  and  students  enrolled  themselves,  in  accord- 


The  University  during  the  Civil  Wars     127 

ance   with    a   royal   proclamation,  and  were  regularly 
drilled  in  tlie  '  New  Park.'      On  August  28,  a  troop 
of  Royalist  horse,  under  Sir  John  Byron,  entered  the 
city,  and  the  volunteers  were  virtually  placed  under  his 
orders,  with  the  apparent  consent  of  the  citizens,  who, 
however,  did  not  raise  a  similar  corps  for  the  defence 
of   their  own  walls.     On  September  1,  a  delegacy  of 
thirty   members,    including    the    vice-chancellor    and 
proctors,  and  popularly  called  '  The  Council  of  War,' 
was  appointed  for  the  purpose  of  arming  the  scholars 
and  provisioning  the  Royal  troops.     But  the  resolution 
of  the  University  was  shaken  when  it  was  discovered, 
on  September  9,  that  the  citizens  were  in  communication 
with  the  Parliament,  and  that  a   Parliamentary  force 
was  about  to  move  on  Oxford  from  Aylesbury.    Indeed, 
the  University  went  so  far  as  to  despatch  emissaries  to 
parley  with  the  Parliamentary  commanders  at  Ayles- 
bury, who  answered  them  roughly,  seized  Dr.  Pinke, 
of  New  College,  the  deputy  vice-chancellor,  and  sent 
him  as  a  prisoner  to  London.     On  the  following  day 
Sir  John  Byron,  with  his  few  troopers,  left  Oxford  to 
join  the  king,  accompanied  by  about  a  hundred  scholars, 
one  of  whom,  Peter  Turner,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
enemy  in  a  skirmish  near  Stow-in-the-Wold,  and  was 
lodged  in  Northampton  gaol.    On  September  12,  a  body 
of  Parliamentary  troops  entered  the  city  from  Aylesbury, 
under  Colonel  Goodwin,  who,  with  other  officers,  was 
quartered  at  Merton  College,  while  their  horses  were 
turned  out  in  Christchurch  meadow.     They  were  soon 
followed   by   Lord   Say,  the  new  Parliamentary  lord- 
lieutenant  of  Oxfordshire.     He  proceeded  to  demolish 
the  fortiiScations  already  begun,  and  instituted  a  search 


128  The  University  of  Oxford 

for  plate  and  arms>  In  fact,  however,  no  college  plate 
was  tlien  carried  off,  except  that  of  Christcliurch  and 
University  College,  which  had  been  hidden  away.  The 
other  colleges,  we  are  told,  were  spared,  '  upon  condition 
it  should  be  forthcoming  at  the  Parliament's  appoint- 
ment, and  not  in  the  least  employed  against  them ' — a 
condition  almost  impossible  of  fulfilment  in  the  event, 
which  actually  occurred,  of  Oxford  becoming  the  King's 
head-quarters.  Upon  the  whole.  Lord  Say  and  his  men 
behaved  with  great  forbearance  during  this  short  occu- 
pation, which  ended  on  September  27  or  28.  The 
gownsmen  were  disarmed,  but  no  injury  was  done  to 
buildings  or  property,  beyond  some  damage  to  the  porch 
of  St.  Mary's  Church  and  the  combustion  of  '  divers 
Popish  books  and  pictures.' 

A  month  later  (October  29)  Charles  I.  marched 
into  Oxford  by  the  North  Gate,  after  the  battle  of  Edge- 
oxford  be-  "^^^^^J  ^^  ^^^^  head  of  his  army,  and  attended  by 
royld  head-  ^^^^^^  Eupert,  Priuce  Maurice,  and  his  two 
quarters  SOUS.  Evou  the  mayor  and  leading  citizens 
welcomed  him,  while  the  University  received  him  with 
open  arms,  expressed  its  devotion  in  Latin  orations,  and 
showered  degrees  on  the  noblemen  and  courtiers  in  his 
train.  The  king  himself,  w4th  the  most  important  per- 
sonages of  his  staff,  except  Pupert  and  Maurice,  was 
lodged  in  Christcliurch ;  the  officers  were  distributed 
among  other  colleges  ;  the  soldiers  were  billeted  about 
the  city.  Thenceforward,  Oxford  became  not  only  the 
base  of  operations  for  the  Royal  army,  but  the  chief 
seat  of  the  royal  government.  Twenty-seven  pieces  of 
ordnance  were  driven  into  the  grove  of  Magdalen  Col- 
lege and  ranged  there ;  the  citizens  were  at  first  dis- 


The  University  during  the  Civil   Wars     129 

armed,  but  a  regiment  of  city  volunteers  was  afterwards 
formed,  and  reviewed  together  with  a  far  more  trust- 
worthy regiment  of  University  volunteers.  A  plan  of 
fortification  was  prepared  by  Rallingson,  a  B.A.  of 
Queen's  College,  and  defensive  works  were  constructed 
all  round  Oxford  under  the  directions  of  engineers.  All 
inmates  of  colleges,  being  of  military  age,  were  im- 
pressed into  labouring  personally  upon  these  works 
for  at  least  one  entire  day  per  week,  bringing  their 
own  tools  with  them ;  in  default  of  which  they  were  re- 
quired to  pay  twelve  pence  to  the  royal  treasury.  A 
powder-mill  was  established  at  Oseney,  and  a  mint  at 
New  Inn  Hall,  whence  the  students  had  fled,  under 
suspicion  of  Roundhead  leanings.  Thither  were  re- 
moved all  the  coini]ig  machinery  and  workmen  from 
the  factory  which  had  beeii  established  some  time  before 
at  Shrewsbury,  and  the  New  Inn  Hall  mint  was  con- 
ducted under  the  direction  of  Thomas  Bushell,  formerly 
the  manager  of  the  ro^'al  mines  in  Wales.  New  Col- 
lege tower  and  cloisters  were  converted  into  an  arsenal 
for  arms,  procured  by  repeated  searches,  the  grammar- 
school  for  the  choristers  having  been  removed  to  a 
chamber  at  the  east  end  of  the  Hall.  The  Schools  were 
employed  as  granaries  for  the  garrison ;  lectures  and 
exercises  were  almost  wholly  suspended;  and  in  the 
three  years  from  1643  to  1646  the  annual  number  of 
B.A.  degrees  conferred  did  not  exceed  fifty.  Before 
long,  most  of  the  less  wariike  and  loyal  fellows  audi 
students  retired  into  the  country;  those  who  remained 
took  up  arms  and  kept  guard  on  the  walls ;  the  colleges 
more  and  more  assumed  the  aspect  of  barracks ;  and 
Oxford,  no   longer   a   seat   of   learning,   was    divided 

K 


130  The  University  of  Oxford 

between  tlie  gaieties  of  a  court  and  tlie  turmoil  of  a 

camp. 

This  transformation  was  completed  in  July  161<3, 
wlien  Henrietta  Maria  joined  the  King  at  Oxford. 
Aspect  of  Charles  I.  rode  out  to  meet  the  Queen,  whose 
sitydm-rng  passiouate  and  sinister  counsels  were  about  to 
residTice"^  cost  him  his  throne  and  his  life.  She  was 
received  with  great  ceremony  at  Christcharch,  and  con- 
ducted by  the  King  himself  to  Merton  College  by  a 
.back  way,  made  expressly  through  gardens  belonging 
to  Christchurch  and  Corpus  Christi  College  into  ]Merton 
Grove.  There  she  was  saluted  with  the  usual  Latin 
oration,  and  took  possession  of  the  apartment  still 
known  as  '  the  Queen's  room,'  w^hich  she  occupied,  with 
.the  adjoining  drawing-room,  until  the  following  April. 
Seldom  in  history,  and  never  in  the  annals  of  the 
University,  have  characters- so  diverse  been  grouped 
too-ether  into  so  brilliant  and  picturesque  a  society 
as  that  v/hich  thronged  the  good  city  of  Oxford  during 
the  Queen's  residence  in  the  autumn  and  winter 
of  1643— the  last  happy  interlude  of  her  ill-starred 
life.  Notwithstanding  the  paralysis  of  academical 
studies,  grave  dons  and  gay  young  students  were  still 
'to  be  seen  in  the  streets,  but  too  often  in  no  academical 
garb  and  affecting  the  airs  of  cavaliers,  as  they  mingled 
with  the  ladies  of  the  court  in  Christchurch  walks  and 
Trinity  College  gardens,  or  with  roystering  troopers  in 
the  guard-houses  at  Eewley,  where  they  entertained 
their  ruder  comrades  with  flashes  of  academic  wit. 
Most  of  the  citizens,  too,  were  glad  to  remain,  secretly 
cherishing,  perhaps,  the  hope  of  a  future  retribution, 
but  not  unwilling  to  levy  high  rents  for  the  lodging  oJ 


The  University  during  the  Civil  Wars    131 

tliose  nobles  and  militarv  officers  for  whom  tliere  was 
no  room  in  the  colleges.  With. these  were  blended  in 
strange  variety  other  elements  imported  from  the  metro- 
polis or  the  country — lawyers  who  had  come  down  to 
attend  the  courts  held  by  the  Lord  Keeper  and  one  of 
his  judicial  brethren  ;  the  faithful  remnant  of  the  Lords 
and  Commons,  who  sat  in  one  of  the  Schools  and  the 
Convocation-house  respectively,  while  the  University 
Acts  were  performed  once  more  in  St.  Mary's  Church  ; 
loyal  gentlemen  driven  out  of  their  manor-houses  by 
the  enemy  ;  clergymen  expelled  from  their  parsonages ; 
foreigners  seeking  audiences  of  the  perplexed  and  vacil- 
lating King ;  needy  poets,  musicians,  and  players  in 
the  service  of  the  Court,  who  acted  interludes  or  Shake- 
spearian pieces  in  the  college  halls.  Services  were  still 
performed  in  the  chapels ;  sermons  were  preached  from 
the  pulpit  of  St.  Mary's ;  degrees  were  conferred  whole- 
sale, as  rewards  for  loyal  service,  until  they  were  so  de- 
preciated that  at  last  the  King  promised  to  recommend 
no  more  candidates  for  them ;  the  outward  appearances 
of  academical  routine  were  maintained  with  decorum  ; 
the  King  dined  and  supped  in  public,  moving  freely 
among  his  devoted  adherents  with  the  royal  grace  and 
easy  dignity  which  long  seemed  to  have  perished  with 
the  Stuarts ;  the  Queen  held  those  receptions  at  Merton 
College  of  which  a  tradition  has  survived  to  our  own 
prosaic  days  ;  newspapers  were  published  for  the  first 
time  in  Oxford,  and  all  the  resources  of  courtly  literature 
were  employed  to  enliven  a  spectacle  over  which  the 
awful  catastrophe  of  that  historical  tragedy,  unforeseen 
by  the  actors  themselves,  has  shed  a  lurid  glamour, 
never  equalled  by  the  romance  of  fiction. 

K  2 


132  The  University  of  Oxford 

During  tliis  memorable  period,  the  records  of  the 
University  and  colleges  are  extremel}^  scanty.  The 
The  last  two  reOTster  of  Christchnrch,  then  little  more  than 

years  of  tlie 

civil  war  a  royal  palace,  presents  almost  a  blank  ;  that 
of  Merton  contains  few  entries  bearing*  on  the  s-reat 
events  of  which  Oxford  was  the  scene  or  the  centre. 
Early  in  January  1643,  royal  letters  Avere  issued  to  all 
colleges  and  halls,  desiring  the  loan  of  their  plate,  to  be 
melted  down  and  coined  for  the  King's  service,  '  we 
promising  yon  to  see  the  same  justly  repayd  unto  yon 
after  the  rate  of  5/  the  ounce  for  white,  and  5/6  for 
guilt  plate,  as  soon  as  God  shall  enable  us.'  All  the 
colleges,  except  New  Inn  Hall,  are  stated  to  have  com- 
plied, and  tlie  aggregate  weight  of  plate  thus  con- 
tributed amounted  to  some  1,500  lbs.,  besides  about 
700  lbs.  sent  in  by  six  country  gentlemen.  Neverthe- 
less, in  the  following  June,  another  levy  of  2,000/.  was 
made  upon  the  University  and  City  respectively,  to 
which  the  City,  in  an  unwonted  fit  of  loyalty,  added 
another  500L  At  last,  in  October  1643,  the  Heads  of 
Houses  agreed  that  40/.  should  be  raised  weekly  during 
the  next  twenty  weeks,  by  a  levy  on  colleges  and  halls, 
in  lieu  of  all  further  contributions  towards  new  fortifica- 
tions. In  the  same  month  articles  were  drawn  up  by 
some  of  the  leading  residents  against  the  Earl  of  Pem- 
broke. Chancellor  of  Oxford,  whom  they  accused  of  be- 
traying the  privileges  and  neglecting  the  interests  of 
the  University,  but  whose  real  crime  was  complicity 
with  the  Parliament,  and  whom  the  King  caused  to  be 
superseded  by  the  Marquis  of  Hertford.  During  the 
summer  of  this  year  the  fortunes  of  war  had,  on  the 
whole,  been  in  the  King's  favour;  but  he  had  been  com- 


The  University  during  the  Civil  Wars     133 

pelled  to  abandon  his  design  of  occupying  London,  and, 
after  the  indecisive  battle  of  ISewbuiy,  in  which  Falk- 
land was  killed,  had  retreated  to  Oxford  for  the  winter. 
Thither  he  summoned  his  so-called  Parliament  in  June 
1G44,  and  there,  yielding  to  evil  advice  from  his  wife, 
he  rejected  overtures  which  might  have  brought  about 
a  peaceful  settlement  without  further  bloodshed.     On 
May  29,   1644,  a  Parliamentary  force  under  the  Earl 
of  Essex  and  Sir  William  Waller  crossed  the  river  at 
Sandford  Ferry,  and  passed  through  Cowley  over  Bul- 
lingdon  Green,  on  their  way  from  Abingdon  to  Islip, 
but   nothing   beyond   a   skirmish    took  place  as  they 
defiled  along  the  heights  within  sight  of  the  city.     The 
object  of  this  movement,  as  soon  appeared,  was  to  en- 
close the  King  with  his  forces  in  Oxford;  but  Charles 
now  showed  unexpected  resource,  and  by  a  masterly 
night-march   eluded   the    enemy,    and  pursued    Essex 
westward,  while  Prince  Rupert  defeated  Waller  at  Cop- 
redy  Bridge,  where  many  Oxford    scholars    were    en- 
gaged.   On  June  9  a  proclamation  of  the  Pri\7  Council 
appeared,  commanding  all  persons  to  lay  in  provisions 
for  three  months,  in  anticipation  of  a  siege,  which,  how- 
ever, did  not  take  place  in  that  year.     On  July  2  the 
King's  northern  army  sustained  a  crushing  defeat  at 
Marston  Moor,  and  the  King  himself,  though  successful 
against  Essex,  was  almost  cut  off  on  his  return  to  Ox- 
ford.    On  Sunday,  October  6,  the  city  of  Oxford,  which 
had  been  scourged  by  a  plague  in  the  previous  year,  the 
natural  result  of  overcrowding,  was  ravaged  by  a  groat 
fire,  attributed  to  the  machinations  of  the  Parliamentary 
troops  at  Abingdon.       The  winter    passed    quietly   at 
Oxford,  and,  after  the  execution  of  Archbishop  Laud  in 


134  ^^^  University  of  Oxford 

January  1645,  negotiations  between  the  King  and  Par- 
liament were  again  opened  at  Uxbridge,  but  in  vain. 
Soon  afterwards  the  Parliamentary  army  was  remodelled, 
and  placed  under  the  command  of  Fairfax,  who  ad- 
vanced to  besiege  Oxford,  while  Charles,  who  had  re- 
tired to  Chester,  hesitated  between  relieving  it  and 
giving  battle  to  Cromwell.  On  May  22,  Oxford  was 
partially  invested  by  Fairfax,  and  besieged  for  a  fort- 
night. Fairfax  established  his  own  head-quarters  at 
Headington,  Wolvercote  was  held  by  Major  Browne, 
Cromwell  was  posted  at  Wytham,  and  the  roads  be- 
tween that  village  and  South  Hincksey  were  secured  by 
the  besiegers.  On  June  2,  the  governor  made  a  success- 
ful night  sally  towards  Headington,  and  three  days 
later  the  siege  was  hastily  abandoned,  when  Fairfax 
moved  northward  to  join  Cromwell,  and  on  June  14  the 
Koyalist  cause  was  finally  shipwrecked  at  the  battle  of 
Naseby.  The  theatre  of  war  was  now  shifted  from  the 
neighbourhood  of  Oxford,  and  the  last  engagement  in 
the  open  field  took  place  near  Chester  in  the  following 
September.  Oxford  still  held  out  for  the  King,  who 
again  fell  back  upon  it  for  the  winter,  accompanied  by 
Princes  Eupert  and  Maurice,  and  gathered  around  him 
a  great  part  of  the  English  nobility  and  gentry  still 
fajthful  to  his  fortunes.  On  December  28  we  find  him 
ordering  special  forms  of  prayer  to  be  used  in  college 
chapels  on  Wednesdays  and  Fridays,  '  during  these  bad 
times.' 

In  the  spring  of  1646,  the  Parliamentary  army  de- 
voted itself  to  besieging  the  strong  places  still  occupied 
by  the  King's  troops,  and  on  May  1  Fairfax  again  ap- 
peared before  Oxford,  which  the  King  had  left  in  disguise 


The  University  during  the  Civil   Wars     13^, 

a  few  clays  earlier,  with  only  two  attendants.  Tlie  besieg- 
ing force  was  distributed  round  the  north  side  of  the  city 
Siege  of  Ox    in  the  same  way  as  before,  and  on  May  11  it 

ford  ami  "^  '  '^ 

pro  o-iiisof    was  formally  summoned  to  surrender.     In  the 

Fairfax;  t!ua- 

raiitccing      letter  of '  suuimons,  addressed  to  Sir  Thomas 

Uiiiverjity 

privileges  Glomham,  the  governor,  Fairfax  used  language 
honourable  to  himself  and  to  Oxford.  '  I  very  much 
desire  the  preservation  of  that  place,  so  famous  for  learn- 
ing, from  ruin,  which  inevitably  is  like  to  fall  upon  it 
unless  you  concur.'  More  than  one  conference  was  held, 
and  some  of  the  privy  councillors  in  Oxford  strove  to 
protract  the  negotiations  until  the  King  himself  could 
be  consulted.  In  the  end,  Fairfax  made  conciliatory 
proposals  which  the  Royalist  leaders  decicled  to  enter- 
tain, 'submitting,'  as  they  said,  'to  the  fate  of  the  king- 
dom rather  than  any  way  distrusting  their  own  strength.' 
By  the  final  treaty,  concluded  on  June  20,  it  was  stipu- 
lated that  both  the  University  and  the  City  should 
enjoy  all  their  ancient  privileges  and  iuim unities  from 
taxation.  It  was  further  stipulated  that  colleges  should 
'  enjoy  their  ancient  form  of  government,  subordinate 
to  the  immediate  authority  and  power  of  Parliament 
.  .  .  and  that  all  churches,  chapels,  &c.,  shall  be  pre- 
served from  defacing  and  spoil.'  It  was,  however,  sig- 
nificantly added  that  if  any  removals  of  Heads  or  other 
members  of  the  University  should  be  made  by  Parlia- 
ment, the  persons  so  removed  should  retain  their  emolu- 
ments for  six  months  after  the  surrender ;  and  there 
was  an  ominous  proviso,  '  that  this  shall  not  extend  to 
any  reformation  there  intended  by  the  Parliament,  nor 
give  thom  any  liberty  to  intermeddle  in  the  govern- 
ment.' 


136  The  University  of  Oxford 

Four  clays  afterwards  (June  24),  the  curtain  fell  on 
tliis  memorable  episode  in  the  history  of  the  University. 
Surrender  of  '^^^  garrisou  of  Oxford  marched  out  3,000 
fcubS^Jlieut^  strong,  with  colours  flying  and  drums  beating, 
of'the'""  in  drenching  rain,  by  Magdalen  Bridge, 
■University  through  St.  Clement's,  over  Shotover  Hill, 
between  files  of  Roundhead  infantry,  lining  the  whole 
route,  but  offering  them  no  injury  or  affront.  About 
900  of  them  laid  dowm  their  arms  on  arriving  at  Thame  ; 
1,100  enlisted  for  service  abroad.  Hundreds  of  civilians 
preceded  or  straggled  after  them ;  hundreds  more, 
chiefly  nobles  and  gentlemen,  accompanied  Prince 
Eupert  and  Prince  Maurice  two  days  later,  besides  a 
large  body  which  proceeded  northward  and  westward, 
through  St.  Giles's,  with  a  convoy.  Nevertheless,  some 
two  thousQ,nd  remained  behind,  to  whom  passes  were 
afterwards  given  by  Fairfax.  These  consisted  mainly 
of  '  gentlemen  and  their  servants,  scholars,  citizens,  and 
inhabitants,  not  properly  of  the  garrison  in  pay,'  who 
had  been  specially  permitted  by  the  articles  of  surrender 
to  choose  their  own  time  for  departure.  The  military 
stores  had  contained  no  less  than  six  months'  provision, 
and  seventy  barrels  of  powder  w^ere  found  in  the  maga- 
zine. Indeed,  the  writer  of  an  official  report,  addressed 
to  Speaker  Lenthall,  congratulates  the  Parliameut  on 
the  bloodless  capture  of  the  gTeat  Royalist  stronghold, 
especially  as  the  surrounding  fields  were  soon  afterw^ards 
flooded,  and  siege  operations  would  have  been  greatly 
impeded.  Order  now  reigned  again  at  Oxford,  but 
the  University  and  colleges  were  almost  emptied  of 
students,  and  utterly  impoverished ;  notwithstanding 
w  hich,  some  of  them  contributed  out  of  their  penury  to 


The  Unh^ersity  during  the  Civil  Wars     137 

relieve  the  poor  of  tlie  city,  and  All  Souls'  passed  a  self- 
denying  ordinance  '  that  there  shall  be  only  one  meal  a 
day  between  this  and  next  Christmas,  and  so  longer,  if 
we  shall  see  occasion.'  Anthony  Wood's  brief  descrip- 
t  ion  of  the  state  of  the  University  after  the  siege  had 
often  been  quoted,  but  deserves  a  place  in  every  history 
of  the  University,  since  it  is  the  testimony  of  an  eye- 
witness :  '  The  colleges  were  much  out  of  repair  by  the 
negligence  of  soldiers,  courtiers,  and  others  who  lay  in 
them  ;  a  few  chambers  which  were  the  meanest  (in 
some  colleges  none  at  all)  being  reserved  for  the  use  of 
the  scholars.  Their  treasure  and  plate  was  all  gone, 
the  books  of  some  libraries  embezzled,  and  the  number 
of  scholars  few^,  and  mostly  indigent.  The  halls  (where- 
in, as  in  some  colleges,  ale  and  beer  were  sold  by  the 
penny  in  their  respective  butteries)  were  very  ruinous. 
Further,  also,  having  few  or  none  in  them  except  their 
respective  Principals  and  families,  the  chambers  in  them 
were,  to  prevent  ruin  and  injuries  of  weather,  rented 
out  to  laicks.  In  a  word,  there  was  scarce  the  face  of 
an  University  left,  all  things  being  out  of  order  and 
disturbed.'  This  description  is  confirmed  by  college 
records,  still  extant,  one  of  which  attests  the  desolation 
of  Merton,  so  long  occupied  by  the  Queen's  retainers. 


138  The  University  of  Oxford 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE   PARLIAMENTARY   VISITATION   AND   THE   COMMON- 
WEALTH. 

The  Parliament,  then  dominated  by  Presbyterians,  lost 
no  time  in  preparing  the  University  for  the  coming 
M.-asiues  ^  rcformat'on,'  by  sending  down  seven  Presby- 
toXe'''*^''^  terian  divines  with  power  to  preach  in  any 
Visitation  Oxford  church.  These  preachers  were  all 
University  men,  and  included  Reynolds,  Cheynell, 
Henry  Wilkinson,  and  Corbet — four  scholars  of  some 
repute,  and  less  obnoxious  than  such  army  chaplains  as 
Hugh  Peters,  who  had  already  obtruded  themselves  into 
the  Oxford  pulpits.  Wood  ridicules  the  effort  to  con- 
vert the  academical  mind  through  Presbyterian  dis- 
courses ;  but  there  is  evidence  that  it  was  not  without 
its  effect,  though  it  provoked  opposition  from  the  rising 
sect  of  the  Independents,  already  established  in  Oxford, 
and  good  Churchmen  were  edified  by  a  fierce  disputation 
between  Cheynell  and  one  Erbury,  an  Independent 
army  chaplain,  formerly  of  Brasenose  College,  the 
favourite  of  the  fanatical  soldiery.  At  the  same  time  a 
Parliamentary  order  was  issued  inhibiting  elections  to 
University  or  college  offices,  and  the  making  or  re- 
newal of  leases  '  until  the  pleasure  of  Parliament  be 
made  known  therein.'  Such  interventions  were  of 
course  warmly  resented  by  academical  Royalists,  espe- 
cially as  the  King  was  still  nominally  in  possession  of  his 
throne,  and  could  only  be  justified  on  the  assumption 


The  Parliamentary  Visitation         139 

that  sovereign  autliority  now  resided  in  the  Parliament 
alone.  On  this  assumption,  however,  they  were  in 
accordance  with  the  policy  of  the  four  last  Tudors,  who 
had  treated  the  University  as  a  national  institution,  to 
be  moulded  into  conformity  with  each  successive  modi- 
fication of  the  National  Church.  Philip,  Earl  of  Pem- 
broke, who  had  been  deposed  in  1643  to  make  room  for 
the  Marquis  of  Hertford,  now  resumed  his  office,  but 
does  not  appear  to  have  exercised  any  moderating  con- 
trol over  the  counsels  either  of  the  Parliament  or  of 
the  University.  Meanwliile,  the  conflict  between  rival 
preachers  and  the  suspension  of  academical  independence 
naturally  produced  a  state  of  anarchy  in  academical 
society,  whose  leading  spirits  were  silently  organising 
themselves  against  the  coming  Visitation. 

The  delay  of  the  Parliament  in  commencing  this  Visi- 
tation may  well  have  been  due  to  more  urgent  claims  on 
Appoint-  their  energy.  On  January  30, 1647,  the  King 
Visitors  and  had  bccn  givcu  up  at  Newcastle  to  the  Par- 

the  Standing    , ,  .      .  t        i_i  j. 

Committee  liameutary  commissioners,  and  otner  events 
ment  of  the  greatest  moment  followed  each  other  in 

quick  succession.  Presbyterianism  was  ostensibly  es- 
tablished by  the  Westminster  Assembly,  but  generally 
accepted  by  a  small  part  only  of  the  kingdom,  and 
undermined  by  the  hostility  of  the  Independents.  The 
so-called  '  Four  Ordinances  '  passed  by  Parliament,  and 
designed  to  weaken  the  power  of  the  army,  had  been 
met  by  a  protest  from  a  great  meeting  of  officers  held 
at  Saffi'on  Walden.  This  brought  about  an  acute 
conflict  between  these  rival  powers,  and  '  the  Lords  and 
Commons  assembled  in  Parliament'  were  meditating 
their  unsuccessful  attempt  to  disband  the  army  at  th'3 


140  The  University  of  Oxford 

v^erytime  when  they  passed  an  ordinance,  on  May  1, 1647, 
'  for  the  Visitation  and  Reformation  of  the  University 
of  Oxford  and  the  several  Colleges  and  Halls  therein.' 
The  object  of  the  Visitation  was  expressly  defined  to  be 
'  the  due  correction  of  offences,  abuses,  and  disorders^ 
especially  of  late  times  committed  there.'  The  Visitors 
were  twenty-four  in  uumber,  fourteen  laymen  and  ten 
clergymen,  with  Sir  Nathaniel  Brent,  Warden  of  Merton 
College,  as  the  chairman ;  but  the  laymen  gradually  ceased 
to  attend,  and  the  work  mainly  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
clerical  Visitors.  Among  the  lay  Visitors  were  several 
lawyers,  including  Brent  himself  and  Prynne  ;  among 
the  clerical  visitors  were  three  fellows  of  Merton,  and 
the  Principal  of  Magdalen  Hall,  which,  like  Merton, 
was  strongly  tinged  with  Presbyterian  opinions.  The 
Visitors  were  instructed  to  inquire  by  oath  concerning 
those  who  neglected  to  take  the  '  Solemn  League  and 
Covenant '  or  the  '  Negative  Oath,'  those  who  opposed 
the  execution  of  the  orders  of  Parliament  concerning 
the  discipline  and  the  Directory,  those  who  contravened 
*  any  point  of  doctrine  the  ignorance  whereof  doth  ex- 
clude from  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,'  and 
those  who  had  borne  arms  against  the  Parliament.  By 
the  same  ordinance  a  Standing  Committee  of  Lords  and 
Commons  was  appointed  to  receive  reports  and  hear 
appeals  from  the  Visitors  ;  but  it  soon  outstepped  these 
functions,  and  sometimes  took  upon  itself  the  right  of 
legislating  directly  for  the  University. 

The  proceedings  of  the  Visitors  were  opened  by  a 
citation  issued  upon  May  15,  1647,  summoning  the 
University  to  appear  before  them  on  June  4,  but  an 
absurd  informality  led  to  an  adjournment,   which  the 


The  Parliamentary  Visitation         141 

events  that  followed  the  seizure  of  the  King  at  Holraby 
House  prolonged  for  three  months.    During  the  interval , 
Early  pro-     ^    delegacy    appointed  by   the  University  to 
frel'ilors,  conduct  its    defence    had    drawn    up    a    very 
J"ou  on-r''  forcible  statement  of  '  Reasons '  for  not  sub- 
from"the       niitting  to  the  new  tests  about  to  be  imposed. 
University     rpj^^  moderation  and  ability  of  this  statement 
did  much  to   consolidate  the    opposition   to  the  Visi- 
tation,  furnished    a    repertory    of    materials    for     the 
answers   afterwards  made  by  individual    colleges,  and 
earned  the  special  thanks   of  the  Parliament  held  at 
Oxford  in  1665.     The  internal  struggles  between  the 
Presbyterians  and  the  Independents  favoured  the  Uni- 
versity, but  the  Committee  of  Lords  and  Commons  inter- 
vened  and    armed    the   Visitors    with    fresh    powers, 
including   that   of  compelling  the  production  of  docu- 
ments, imprisoning  the  contumacious,  and  pronouncing 
definitive  sentences  of  expulsion.     This  arbitrary  com- 
mission, endorsed  by  the  Chancellor  of  the  University, 
was  conferred  upon  the  Visitors  in  the  name  of  the  king, 
himself  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  Parliament.     On 
September  29,  1647,  their   operations    actually    com- 
menced with  prayers  and  preaching  *  for  three  hours 
toe-ether  '  after  which  all  the  Heads  of  Houses  were  cited 
to  appear.   Dean  Fell  of  Christchurch  being  specially 
cited    as   vice-chancellor,    and    a   number   of  resident 
fellows  were  appointed  to  act  as  assistants  to  the  Visitors, 
'  and  to  enquire  into  the  behaviour  of  all  Governours, 
Professors,  Officers,  and  Members.'     A  large  majority 
of  the  University  and  college  authorities  offered  a  reso- 
lute  though   passive   resistance,    and    when    the  vice- 
chancellor,  as  the  avowed  leader  of  the  malcontents,  was 


142  The  University  of  Oxford 

seized  and  imprisoned,  the  Visitors  found  tlieir  legal 
action  more  paralysed  than  ever  for  want  of  any  constitu- 
tional authority  through  which  their  orders  could  be 
carried  out.  The  London  Committee,  however,  again  came 
to  their  rescue,  and  on  November  11,  1647,  six  Heads  of 
colleges,  with  three  canons  of  Ohristchurch,  and  the  two 
proctors,  were  forced  to  appear  before  this  Committee. 
Selden,  Whitelocke,  and  others  stood  their  friends,  but 
the  adverse  majority  prevailed,  and  sentence  of  depriva- 
tion was  pronounced  upon  most  of  them.  Still  tlie  Visi- 
tors' orders  were  disregarded,  and  '  not  a  man  stirred  from 
his  place  or  removed.'  At  last,  on  February  18,  1648, 
Reynolds  was  appointed  vice-chancellor  by  the  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  and  the  proctors  superseded  in  favour  of  men 
who  could  be  trusted — Crosse  of  Lincoln  and  Button  of 
Merton  ;  while  the  Chancellor  himself  was  deputed,  on 
March  8,  to  instal  the  new  functionaries  in  office,  and 
to  bring  the  University  into  subjection.  On  March  30 
a  further  order  of  deprivation  was  published,  embracing 
the  removal  of  Sheldon  from  the  wardenship  of  All 
Souls',  and  Hammond  from  his  canonry  of  Christchurch. 
About  the  same  time  the  Visitors  were  empowered  to 
use  the  military  force  at  their  disposal,  and  on  April  11 
the  Chancellor  himself  arrived  to  enforce  obedience.  He 
found  the  University  in  a  state  of  almost  open  mutin}^ 
against  the  Parliament  and  the  Visitors.  In  spite  of 
fresh  orders  and  the  appearance  of  a  body  of  troops  sent 
down  by  Fairfax,  the  Heads  of  Houses  sentenced  to  ex- 
pulsion refused  to  quit  their  colleges,  Mrs.  Fell  retained 
possession  of  the  deanery  in  her  husband's  absence, 
and  when  the  members  of  Convocation  were  solemnly 
cited  to  meet  the  Visitors  a  mere  handful  responded. 


The  Parliamentary  Visitation         143 

Great  pains  liad  been  taken  to  mar  the  dignity  of  the 
Chancellor's  reception,  and  loyal  pamphleteers  lavished 
their  bitterest  jests  on  the  absence  of  academical  cere- 
mony, the  presence  of  soldiers,  and  the  substitution  of  an 
English  for  a  Latin  address  of  welcome.  But  all  serious 
resistance  was  now  vain.  During  a  stay  of  three  days 
Pembroke  was  lodged  at  Merton,  where  the  Visitors 
usually  held  their  sittings  in  the  Warden's  house,  and 
had  already  abstracted  the  University  register  from  the 
rooms  of  French,  the  registrar,  who  happened  to  be  a 
fellow  of  the  college.  Reynolds  was  installed  as  vice- 
chancellor;  ten  Heads  of  colleges  were  actually  ejected, 
most  of  the  professors  and  canons  of  Christchurch  shared 
the  same  fate ;  two  vacant  headships  were  immediately 
filled  up,  and  worthy  successors  were  appointed  to  most 
of  the  offices  vacated  by  expulsion  ;  new  Masters  of  Arts 
were  created,  some  imported  from  Cambridge,  and  the 
Visitors  proceeded  to  purge  each  college  with  a  view  to 
its  re-organisation. 

The  details  of  these  collegiate  Visitations  are  beyond 
the  scope  of  general  University  history,  but  they  were 
Visitation  of  all  conducted  on  the  same  principle.  Every 
bubu'^issions  member  of  the  college,  from  the  Head  to  the 
t?onr^"'"  humblest  servant,  was  asked  w^hether  he  would 
submit.  No  evasions  were  allowed,  and  the  '  non- 
submitters  '  were  at  once  turned  out.  At  a  later  period 
(November  1648)  the  London  Committee  insisted  on 
the  Visitors  tendering  also  the  Negative  Oath,  involving 
an  abjuration  of  all  connection  with  the  King,  his 
council,  or  his  officers,  and  the  refusal  of  this  new  test 
led  to  some  further  expulsions.  After  the  lapse  of  a 
year,  the  London  Committee  went  one  step  further,  and 


144  The  University  of  Oxford 

required  subscription  to  'tlie  Engagement,'  pledging 
the  signatories  to  a  government  without  a  King  or 
House  of  Lords.  Reynokls,  Pocock,  and  Mills,  who 
had  taken  all  the  former  tests,  resigned  their  offices 
rather  than  submit  to  this,  but  it  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  strictly  or  universally  applied.  No  exact  list  of 
the  cases  in  which  the  Visitors  exercised  their  juris- 
diction can  now  be  made  out,  but  the  evidence  preserved 
in  the  '  Visitors'  Register,'  which  has  come  do\yn  to  us, 
leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the  numbers  of  the  sub- 
missions and  expulsions  were  nearly  equal,  amounting 
in  each  case  to  400  or  500,  and  spread  over  several 
years.  So  obstinate  was  the  resistance  of  some  colleges 
that  it  was  at  last  thought  necessary  to  proclaim  that 
any  expelled  members  remaining  in  Oxford  should  incur 
the  penalty  of  death.  But  the  functions  of  the  Visitors 
were  by  no  means  purely  inquisitorial  and  judicial. 
They  also  superintended,  and  often  personally  directed, 
the  whole  internal  management  of  colleges,  regulating 
leases,  dictating  admissions  to  scholarships  and  fellows- 
ships,  making  arrangements  for  examinations,  deciding 
on  the  rate  of  allowances,  suggesting  if  not  prescribing 
the  alteration  of  statutes,  and  overriding  corporate 
rights  of  self-government  with  a  despotic  air  which  Laud 
might  have  envied. 

While  they  were  thus  engaged,  Fairfax  and  Crom- 
well visited  Oxford  together  in  state  on  May  17,  1649. 
Reception  of  They  wcrc  lodged  and  entertained  at  All  Souls', 
Cromwell  in  the  absence  of  the  new  Warden,  now  on 
duty  in  Parliament,  by  Zanchy,  the  sub-warden,  and 
one  of  the  proctors,  who  happened  to  be  a  colonel  in 
the  Parliamentary  army.     Both  the  generals  received  a 


The  Parliamentary  Visitation         145 

D.C.L.  degree,  and  Cromwell,  addressing  the  University 
authorities  on  behalf  of  himself  and  Fairfax,  professed 
his  respect  for  the  interests  of  learning,  and  assured 
them  of  his  desire  to  promote  these  interests  for  the 
sake  of  the  commonwealth.  They  dined  at  Magdalen, 
played  bowls  on  the  college  green,  had  supper  in  the 
Bodleian  Library,  and  attended  University  sermons  at 
St.  Mary's.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  sincerity 
of  the  assurances  given  by  Cromwell,  who  became  Chan- 
cellor on  the  death  of  Pembroke,  in  January  1650.  In 
this  capacity,  he  not  only  presented  the  University  with 
a  collection  of  manuscripts,  but  resisted  the  reduction  (  f 
academical  endowments  proposed  by  the  Barebones  Pai  - 
liament,  and  supported  by  Milton ;  while  Fairfax,  himse If 
a  man  of  scholarlike  tastes,  had  already  proved  his  regard 
for  the  University  when  the  city  was  in  his  power. 

The  first  stage  of  the  Visitation  terminated  in  April 
1652,  when  the  London  Committee  was  dissolved,  and 
Second         tlic  Visitors  ccascd  to  act.     Their  work  had 

Boartl  of  .  .  .   , 

Visitors  been  constantly  interrupted  by  differences  with 
the  London  Committee,  whom  they  recognised  as  their 
official  superiors,  but  who  had  of  course  little  acquaint- 
ance with  University  affairs.  These  bodies  were  equally 
resolved  to  Presbyterianise  the  University,  to  make  its 
education  more  emphatically  religious,  to  strengthen 
moral  discipline,  and  to  enforce  such  rules  as  those 
against  excess  in  dress,  and  even  that  which  enjoined 
the  colloquial  use  of  Latin.  They  differed  chiefly  in 
their  mode  of  action,  the  Visitors  desiring  to  adopt  a 
more  conciliatory  attitude,  and  to  show  more  respect  for 
academical  independence  than  the  London  Committee 
was  prepared  to  sanction.     Several  changes  had  taken 

L 


146  The  University  of  Oxford 

place  among  the  former,  and  the  retirement  of  Reynolds 
had  weakened  the  moderate  party  on  a  board  which,  how- 
ever, remained  distinctively  Presbyterian.  During  the 
fourteen  months  between  April  1652  and  June  1653 
the  history  of  the  University,  like  the  Visitors'  Register, 
presents  almost  a  blank.  On  September  9,  1652, 
Owen,  who  had  succeeded  Reynolds  as  Dean  of  Christ- 
church,  was  nominated  vice-chancellor  by  Cromwell. 
On  October  16  he  was  placed  at  the  head  of  a  com- 
mission to  execute  all  the  Chancellor's  official  powers. 
With  him  were  associated  Goddard,  the  Warden  of 
Merton;  Wilkins,the  Warden  of  Wadham;  Goodwin,  the 
President  of  Magdalen ;  and  Peter  French,  prebendary 
of  Christchnrch  ;  and  the  government  of  the  University 
seems  to  have  been  practically  transferred  from  the 
Visitors  into  their  hands.  Of  these  men,  Goddard  had 
been  head  physician  to  Cromweirs  army  in  Ireland,  and 
afterwards  in  Scotland;  Owen  and  Goodwin  had  been 
his  chaplains,  and  thoroughly  enjoyed  his  confidence; 
Wilkins  was  one  of  the  most  eminent  scientific  autho- 
rities of  his  time  ;  French  was  Cromwell's  brother-in-law 
and  had  been  on  the  Board  of  Visitors.  All  of  these, 
except  Wilkins,  were  appointed,  with  five  others,  to 
serve  on  a  new  and  temporary  Board  of  Visitors,  for 
the  creation  of  which  the  University  itself  had  peti- 
tioned, in  order  to  carry  on  the  new  academical  settle- 
ment, with  the  expression  of  a  hope  that  they  might  be 
fewer  in  number  than  before,  and  all  resident.  The 
proceedings  of  this  Board,  in  which  the  Independents 
were  more  strongly  represented,  deserve  but  little 
notice.  The  process  of  weeding  out  the  University  and 
colleges  having  been  completed,  and  strict  rules  laid  down^ 


The  Parliamentary   Visitation         147 

little  remained  except  to  interpret  these  rules,  to  orga- 
nise the  new  system,  and  to  guard  against  the^  revival 
of  abases.  The  Visitors,  however,  agreed  to  meet  every 
Monday  and  Tuesday,  and  succeeded  in  doing  much 
useful  work.  In  September  1G54,  the  Board  was  re- 
constituted by  Cromwell,  who  had  been  solemnly  con- 
gratulated by  the  University  on  his  assumption  of  the 
Protectorate  in  the  previous  December. 

As  Owen  had  been  the  ruling  spirit  on  the  second 
Board  of  Visitors,  so  this  last  was  mainly  dominated  by 
Third  Board  the  influence  of  Goodwin,  and  contained  several 
nnlcoS-    additional  members,  some  Presbyterians.     It 
v'ltliou     lasted  no  less  than  four  years,  but  the  records 
of  its  proceedings  are  but  scanty,  and  chiefly  relate  to 
corrections  of  abuses,   such   as  corrupt  resignations  of 
fellowships  and  irregular  elections.     In  short,  the  Par- 
liamentary Visitors,  having  placed  the  government  of 
the  University  and  colleges  in  hands  which  they  re- 
garded as  trustworthy,  were  mainly  occupied  in  dis- 
charging the  functions  which  properly  belonged  to  the 
Chancellor  and  the    ordinary  Visitors    of  the   several 
<:olleges.    In  an  appeal  from  Jesus  College,  they  delibe- 
rately set  aside  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke 
as   hereditary   Visitor  of  that  society.     On  the    other 
hand,  after  Cromwell's  resignation  of  the  chancellorship 
on  July  3,  1657,  they  went  so  far  as  to  lay  before  him 
their  decision  on  an  important  case  at  All  Souls',  and 
received  from  him  an  assurance  '  of  all  due  encourage- 
ment  and    countenance  from   his  Highnesse    and   the 
Councell.'    Even  while  they  were  claiming  a  paramount 
authority,  the  University  was  insensibly  recovering  its 
independence.    As  vice-chancellor  and  Dean  of  Christ- 

I.  2 


14S  The  University  of  Oxford 

churcli,  Owen  was  still  a  great  power  in  the  University, 
and  supported  a  body  of  Delegates  who  proposed  a  sort 
of  provisional  constitution  for  the  University  under 
which  independent  representatives  of  Convocation  would 
have  been  associated  with  the  Visitors.  In  another 
instance,  Owen  sought  to  override  a  vote  of  Convocation 
against  reforms  which  he  proposed  by  the  direct  action 
of  the  Visitors  and  even  of  the  Protector's  Council,  but 
was  foiled  in  the  first  attempt,  and  dissuaded  from 
making  the  second.  In  fact,  the  University  had  begun 
to  legislate  again  for  itself,  and  was  becoming  somewhat 
impatient  of  being  nursed  and  schooled  by  a  meddlesome 
select  committee  of  its  own  members.  As  Convocation 
alleged,  '  Visitors  residing  upon  the  place  do  rather 
nourish  and  ferment  than  appease  differences,'  and 
there  was  a  natural  resentment  against  Heads  of  colleges 
acting  as  judges  on  their  own  causes.  '  Having  done  its 
real  w^ork,  the  Visitation  was  perishing  of  inanition. 
After  Hichard  Cromwell  had  been  elected  Chancellor  in 
July  1657,  he  appointed  Dr.  Conant,  Rector  of  Exeter, 
vice-chancellor,  and  from  this  moment  Conant,  whose 
importance  had  long  been  growing,  became  the  real 
governor  of  the  University.  With  a  firmness  and  zeal 
for  reform  fully  equal  to  Owen's,  he  combined  a  more 
conciliatory  and  statesmanlike  character,  and  while  he 
resisted,  as  the  champion  of  academical  privilegrs,  Crom- 
well's scheme  for  a  new  University  at  Durham,  he  stoutly 
upheld  the  autonomy  of  colleges  against  the  project  for 
superseding  all  episcopal  Visitors.  Nevertheless,  for  six 
months  after  his  nomination  to  the  vice-chancellorship  the 
Parliamentary  Visitors  continued  to  meet,  and  to  make 
occasional  orders,  the   last  of  which  is  dated  April  8, 


The  Parliamentary  Visitation         I49 

1G58,  when  their  register  breaks  off  abruptly.    It  is  not 
known  how  their  commission  was  terminated,  or  whether 
ii  was  terminated  at  all.     By  this  time,  however,  it 
was  beginning  to  be  manifest  that,   after  all,  the  old 
order  in  Chui'ch  and  State  was  regretted  by  a  majority 
of  the  people,  and  that  England  was  almost  tired  of  Puri- 
tan despotism.     Parliament  itself  had  virtually  estab- 
lished an  amended   monarchy  with    a  new   House    of 
Lords,  and  the  army  alone  had  prevented  Cromwell  from 
assuming  the  title  of  King.     No  one  was  better  aware 
than  he  of  the  reaction  in  popular  sentiment,  calling  for 
a  revival  of  the  institutions  so  hastily  demolished,  and 
his    prescient   mind  foreboded,  if  it   did  not  actually 
foresee,  the  coming  restoration  of  the  Stuarts.     In  this 
last  year  of  his  life  there  was  no  force  in  the  central 
government  to  push  on  further  interference  with  Oxford. 
IStoreover  the  University  was  now  in  good  order,  and 
possessed  the  confidence  of  the  nation. 

It  is  clear,  indeed,  from  scattered  notices  of  passing 

events,  that  its  inner  life  had  been  less  disturbed  by  the 

,.,     presence  of  the  Visitors  than  we  might  infer 

Mtatc  ox  the     1  j.n£ll' 

</niversity     f^^^  ^ho  spaco   which  they  naturally  till   m 
.'overy  oTits  XJniversity  history,  and  that  since  the  close  of 
enc?^"  '       ^Q  Civil  War  Oxford  studies  and  habits  had 
been  gradually  resuming  their  ordinary  course.     It  is 
some  proof  of  this  that  even  during  the  Puritan  inter- 
regnum no  order  was  issued  to  put  down  the  disorderly 
and  indecorous   buffoonery   of  the  Terrce.    Filii,  those 
self-constituted   and   privileged  satirists  whose  sallies 
upon     University    dignitaries  continued   to    scandalise 
graver  censors  of  academical  morals  for  several  gene- 
rations.    When  John  Evelyn  visited  Oxford  in  1654, 


150  The  University  of  Oxford 

and  witnessed  the  celebration  of  the  Act  in  St.  Mary's 
Church,  he  found  '  the  ancient  ceremonies  and  institu- 
tions as  yet  not  wholly  abolished,'  enjoyed  the  usual 
round  of  festivities,  and  admired  the  mechanical  inven- 
tions contrived  by  Dr.  Wilkins  with  the  aid  of  young 
Christopher  Wren.  '  In  the  following  year  a  coffee-house 
was  opened  opposite  All  Souls'  College,  and  largely  fre- 
quented by  Royalists  and  others  '  who  esteemed  them- 
selves either  virtuosi  or  wits,'  and  in  many  a  private  house 
the  services  of  the  Church  were  regularly  performed  by 
clergymen  in  surplices,  to  congregations  of  gownsmen, 
with  the  full  knowledge,  if  not  the  actual  connivance,  of 
Cromwell  and  the  Visitors.  The  academical  population 
was  already  larger  than  it  had  been  in  the  reign  of 
James  I.,  and  the  University  contained  quite  as  many 
scholars  and  divines  of  established  reputation.  Throughout 
all  the  disorders  and  confusion  incident  to  revolutionaiy 
times,  it  had  never  ceased  to  be  respected  as  a  home  of 
religion  and  learning,  and  Clarendon  himself  bears  un- 
conscious witness  to  the  character  of  the  Visitation  in 
the  well-known  paj:;sage  which  concludes  his  strictures 
uppn  it.  For,  after  denouncing  it  as  a  reign  of  barbarism, 
he  proceeds  to  say  that,  in  spite  of  all,  the  University 
*  yielded  a  harvest  of  extraordinary  good  and  sound 
knowledge  in  all  parts  of  learning,  and  many  who  were 
wickedly  introduced  applied  themselves  to  the  study  of 
good  learning  and  the  practice  of  virtue,  and  had  incli- 
nation to  that  duty  and  obedience  they  had  never  been 
taught,  so  that  when  it  pleased  God  to  bring  KingCharles 
the  Second  back  to  his  throne,  he  found  that  Universitv 
abounding  in  excellent  learning,  and  devoted  to  duty 
rnd  obedience  little  inferior  to  what  it  was  before  its 
desolation.' 


Reigns  of  Charles  IL  and  James  IL     151 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  PERIOD  BETWEEN  THE  RESTORATION  AND  THE 

REVOLUTION. 

On  Monday,  February  13,  1660,  news  was  brought  to 
Oxford  that  a  '  fiee  Parliament,'  or  Convention,  was  about 
TheRe^ora-  to  be  assembled,  and  was  hailed  with  great 

tion  ami  new  ...  c    l.^  • 

vwt:itionof  rejoicings  as  a  sure  presage  ot  the  coming 
sity  "''''''"  Restoration.  On  May  29  Charles  II.  entered 
London,  and  in  June  a  new  set  of  Visitors  appeared 
at  Oxford  to  undo  the  work  of  their  predecessors  under 
the  Commonwealth.  This  Visitation  was  issued  at  the 
instance,  if  not  by  the  direct  authority,  of  the  Marquis 
of  Hertford,  who  succeeded  Richard  Cromwell  on  his 
resignation  in  May  on  the  King's  return,  and  who  him- 
self, dying  in  the  following  October,  was  succeeded 
by  Clarendon.  Wood  draws  a  graphic  picture  of  the 
various  emotions  pourtrayed  in  the  countenances  of  the 
defeated  and  victorious  parties  at  Oxford,  the  one  pluck- 
ing their  hats  over  their  eyes  and  foreseeing  speedy 
retribution,  the  others  with  cheerful  looks,  and  reinstat- 
ino-  'all  tokens  of  monarchy  that  w^ere  lately  defaced 
or  obscured  in  the  University.'  Happily,  the  personal 
constitution  of  the  commission  was  by  no  means  exclu- 
sive, since  at  least  eight  of  its  members  had  submitted 
to  the  last  Visitation,  and  held  offices  during  the 
'  usurpation,'  as  it  was  now^  to  be  called.  Their  in- 
structions, too,  were  mainlv  directed  to  a  restitution  of 

7  7  «/ 

expelled  Royalists,  of  whom   the  number  had  greatly 


152  The  University  of  Oxford 

dwindled  in  tlie  interval,  many  having  died  or  '  clianged 
their  religion,'  while  others,  being  married,  were  no 
longer  eligible  for  college  fellowships.  It  is  said  that 
not  above  one-sixth  remained  to  be  restored,  but  among 
these  were  several  persons  of  considerable  note.  Sheldon 
had  already  regained  the  wardenship  of  All  Sonls' ; 
Walker  recovered  the  mastership  of  University  ;  Oliver 
again  became  President  of  Magdalen  ;  Yate,  Principal 
of  Brasenose  ;  Newlin,  President  of  Corpus  ;  Potter, 
President  of  Trinity;  Ba>lis,  President'  of  St.  John's; 
Mansell,  Principal  of  Jesus  ;  and  Wightwick,  Master  of 
Pembroke.  Reynolds  was  appointed  in  quick  succession 
Dean  of  Christchurch  and  Warden  of  Merton,  whence 
he  was  promoted  to  the  see  of  Norwich  in  the  following 
year.  A  large  proportion  of  the  fellows  elected  during 
the  previous  Visitation  were  allowed  to  keep  their  places, 
for  which  there  were  no  rival  claimants  ;  others,  though 
statutably  elected,  were  turned  out,  but  in  some  cases 
they  were  consoled  with  chaplaincies  or  other  subordi- 
nate posts.  Two  or  three  months  sufficed  to  complete 
these  personal  changes,  but  a  royal  letter  re-established 
all  the  statutes  and  regulations  in  force  before  the  '  usurp- 
ation,' including  the  oaths  introduced  under  James  I., 
and  this  letter,  coupled  with  the  Act  of  Uniformity 
passed  in  1662,  must  have  rendered  the  positions  of 
many  Puritans  at  Oxford  practically  untenable.  By  a 
clause  in  that  Act,  it  was  for  the  first  time  required  that 
every  person  elected  to  a  college  fellowship  sliould 
make  a  declaration  of  conformity  to  the  liturgy  of  the 
Church  of  England  in  the  presence  of  the  vice-chancellor. 
Such  a  provision  had  a  sensible  effect  in  making  Oxford 
once  more  a  seminary  of  the  clergy  and  country  gentry, 


Reigns  of  Charles  II.  and  James  IL     153 

but  tliere  was  no  violent  break  in  tbe  continuity  of  its 
corporate  life.  For  some  little  time  after  the  Restora- 
tion, the  University  was  in  an  unsettled  state,  and  the 
students,  released  from  the  bondage  of  Puritan  discipline, 
betrayed  some  pardonable  excitement  \  but  good  order 
revived  under  a  succession  of  prudent  vice-chancellors, 
and  Oxford,  so  long  the  battle-ground  of  rival  parties  in 
the  State,  enjoyed  comparative  repose  under  Charles  II. 
Several  improvements  in  the  external  features  of  the 
city  and  University  may  be  dated  from  this  reign.  Not 
Extension  of  the  Icast  was  the  erection  of  the  famous 
bui:aiugs.      Sheldonian  Theatre  for  the  performance  of  the 

She'donian  i      a     j.  i  r  ri, 

Theatre  annual  Acts,  now  known  as  Commemora- 
tions,' and  other  academical  solemnities.  This  build- 
ing was  founded  by  Gilbert  Sheldon,  who,  having  re- 
sumed the  wardenship  of  All  Souls'  in  1660,  and  become 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  in  1663,  was  elected  Chan- 
cellor in  succession  to  Clarendon  in  1667.  In  common 
with  many  Anglicans  of  the  Laudian  school,  Sheldon 
had  long  objected  to  the  profanation  of  St.  Mary's  Church 
involved  in  the  use  of  it  as  a  kind  of  academical  town- 
hall  for  scholastic  exercises  and  secular  displays.  Per- 
haps the  contempt  of  the  Puritans  for  sacred  edifices 
had  quickened  the  zeal  of  Royalists  for  their  dedication 
to  strictly  religious  purposes ;  at  all  events,  the  arch- 
bishop offered  1,000Z.  towards  the  construction  of 
a  suitable  theatre,  and,  meeting  with  little  support 
from  others,  ultimately  took  upon  himself  the  whole 
cost,  amounting  to  25,000/.  The  mode  in  which  the 
site  was  procured  illustrates  the  change  which  was 
already  passing  over  medi^Dval  Oxford,  now  in  process 
of    conversion    from    a    fortified    into    an    open    town. 


154  The  University  of  Oxford 

Though  a  great  part  of  the  walls  was  preserved,  and 
the  city  gates  survived  for  another  century,  the  ditch 
was  being  filled  up  and  new  streets  constructed  along 
the  course  of  it.  Several  houses  adjoining  the  old 
ramparts  were  purchased  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Divinity  School ;  Christopher  Wren  was  engaged  as  the 
architect,  and  Streeter  as  the  painter  of  the  pictures 
which  adorn  the  ceiling ;  and  the  building,  having  been 
commenced  in  1664,  was  completed  in  1669 — the  year 
in  which  the  Divinity  School  was  restored  according  to 
Wren's  designs.  John  Evelyn  received  a  degree  at  the 
first  academical  festival  held  in  it,  and  was  as  much 
impressed  by  the  grandeur  of  the  spectacle  and  the 
learning  of  the  discourses  as  he  was  shocked  by  the 
vulgar  ribaldry  of  the  Terroi  Filius.  It  is  worthy  of 
notice  that  in  the  address  delivered  on  this  occasion  by 
Dr.  South,  as  Public  Orator,  were  '  some  malicious  and 
indecent  reflections  on  the  Royal  Society,  as  underminers 
of  the  University.'  That  society,  in  fact,  passed  through 
much  of  its  infancy,  if  it  did  not  take  its  birth,  at 
Oxford.  Among  its  earliest  and  most  influential  members 
were  Dr.  WilLins,  the  Warden  of  Wadham,  Dr.  Goddard, 
the  Warden  of  Merton,  and  Dr.  Wallis,  a  Cambridge  man, 
who  afterwards  became  Savilian  professor  of  geometry 
in  Oxford.  These  and  others  were  in  the  habit  of  meet- 
ing for  scientific  discussions  at  Goddard's  lodgings,  or 
Gresham  College,  in  London,  before  the  end  of  the  Civil 
War,  but  about  1619  all  three  of  them  were  settled  in 
Oxford,  where  they  found  congenial  associates  in  such 
men  as  William  Petty,  Robert  Boyle,  and  Wren,  and 
resumed  their  meetings  in  Potty's  or  Wilkins '  lodgings, 
while  the  rest  continued  to  meet  in  London. 


Reigns  of  Charles  II.  and  James  II      155 

Other  facts  attest  the  variety  of  intellectual  life  and 
interests  at  Oxford  during  the  same  period.      Evelyn 
Growth  o£     speaks  of  an  organ    as    placed  in   the  upper 
fa'sti!  and      gallery  of  the  theatre,  and  of  '  excellent  music, 
melit/^  ^^'  both  vocal  and  instrumental,'  as  part  of  the 
programme  at  the  opening  of  the  Sheldonian  Theatre. 
The  earliest  order  for  the  apportionment  of  seats  assigns 
that  very  gallery  '  for  the  performance  of  music,'  while 
it    allots    places  to   ladies,  strangers,  and  '  Cambridge 
scholars.'     Thenceforth    music    played   a    considerabli 
part  among  academical  recreations,  and  a  taste  for  t\i\t 
helles-httres    and  the  fine  arts  was    rapidly  developed 
In  1677,  the  Arundel  marbles  were  presented  to  tLo 
University  by  the  Earl  of  Arundel,   mainly  owing  I0 
the  assiduous  exertions  of  John  Evelyn;  on  May  2't, 
1683,  the  Ashmolean  Museum  was  opened,,  and  in  tl.e 
next  month  Convocation  accepted  Elias  Ashmole's  gift 
of  all  his  '  rarities,'  consisting  of  valuable  collections  in 
natural  history  and  antiquities.     A  certain  air  of  literary 
dilettantism  was  characteristic  of  the  same  age  at  the 
University  as  well  as  in  the  metropolis.     Under  a  statute 
passed  in  1662,  bachelors  of  Arts  were  required,  before 
inception,  to  recite  from  memory  two  Latin  declamations 
of  their  own  composition,  and  from  this  period  may  be 
dated  the  gradual  triumph  of  Liter ce  Humaniores  over 
scholastic    disputations    in    the  examination-system  of 
Oxford.     Versification  in  Latin  now  became  a  favourite 
pastime  of  Oxford  scholars,  and  many  poems  of  doubtful 
Latinity  on  the  politics  or  philosophy  of  the  day  were 
composed    there   during  the  latter  half  of   the  seven- 
teenth century.     In    the  meanwhile,    modern    notions 
of  comfort  were  beginning  to  modify  the  old  austerity 


156  The  University  of  Oxford 

of  college  life.  The  earliest  of  Oxford  common-rooms 
was  instituted  at  Merton  College  in  1661,  and  sixteen 
years  later  Anthony  Wood  mentions  '  common  chambers' 
together  with  ale-houses  (of  which  there  were  said  to  be 
above  370),  and  the  newly  established  '  cofFea-houses,' 
as  contributing  to  the  decay  of  '  solid  and  serious  learn- 
ing.' College  gardens,  too,  received  far  more  attention 
than  before,  and  we  may  still  trace  on  Loggan's  maps 
and  plans  the  geometrical  designs  upon  Vviiich  these 
little  plots  were  ingeniously  laid  out  by  the  Caroline 
landscape-gardeners,  though  Magdalen  '  water  walks ' 
retained  their  native  wildness. 

Charles  II.  twice  visited  Oxford,  where  his  presence 
and  example  could  scarcely  have  been  conducive  to 
First  virtue  or  decorum  amonof  the  students.      His 

visit  of  .  .  1      1  1        p 

Charles  n.  rcigu  IS  marked  by  frequent  interference  with 
the  freedom  of  college  elections,  in  the  form  of  attempts 
to  use  fellowships  as  rewards  for  his  favourites  or  the 
relations  of  old  cavaliers,  though  in  more  than  one  in- 
stance he  gracefully  retracted  his  mandate.  When  he 
arrived  at  Oxford  from  Salisbury,  in  September  1665,  the 
plague  was  at  its  height  in  London.  There  he  remained 
until  the  following  February,  lodging,  as  usual,  at 
Christchurch,  while  the  Queen  was  accommodated  at 
Merton,  residing  in  the  very  rooms  in  which  her  mother- 
in-law,  Henrietta  Maria,  held  her  Court  during  the  Civil 
War.  Miss  Stuart,  afterwards  Duchess  of  Richmond, 
occupied  a  fellow's  rooms  in  the  same  college,  and 
another  set  was  assigned  to  Barbara  Villiers,  Lady  Castle- 
maine,  and  afterwards  Duchess  of  Cleveland.  In  these 
rooms,  on  December  28, 1665,  was  born  her  son,  George 
Villiers,  afterwards  Earl  of  Northumberland  and  Duke 


Reigns  of  Charles  IT.  and  James  IT.      157 

of  Grafton.  It  is  stated  in  tlie  college  register  that 
bachelor  fellows  and  scholars  were  turned  out  of  their 
chambers  to  make  room  for  the  Court,  and  that  as  there 
were  more  ladies  than  students  in  the  chapel, '  ordinary 
praters  '  were  used  in  the  service. 

Sixteen  years  had  elapsed  before  Charles  II.  again 
visited  Oxford,  in  the  spring  of  1681,  to  open  the  last 
Second  Parliament  ever  held  in  the  city,  supposing 
Charles  11  ^^^^  Whig  members  would  there  be  subjected 
S'^y.li^.Hi'fV*    to  loyalist  influences,  and  more  amenable  to 

as^e^lD:eu  f  ' 

Sved'at  his  own  dictation.  The  supposed  discovery  of 
Oxford  ^i^Q  'Popish  Plot'  in  1678  had  provoked  a 
fresh  outburst  of  Protestant  enthusiasm  and  bigotry. 
An  Act  had  been  passed  disabling  all  Papists,  except 
the  Duke  of  York,  from  sitting  in  either  House  of 
Parliament,  and  was  quickly  followed  by  a  Bill  to  ex- 
clude the  Duke  of  York  from  the  succession.  To  arrest 
the  progress  of  this  Bill,  two  Parliaments  had  been  dis- 
solved by  the  King,  and  that  summoned  to  meet  at 
Oxford  lasted  but  a  week.  The  King  journeyed  thither 
surrounded  by  his  guards  of  horse  and  foot,  while  the 
Exclusionist  leaders  were  escorted  by  hosts  of  friends 
and  armed  retainers.  On  this  occasion,  the  schools  of 
geometry,  astronomy,  and  Greek  were  fitted  up  for  the 
House  of  Lords,  the  Convocation  House  being  adapted 
to  receive  the  Commons.  The  Commons  again  brought 
in  the  Exclusion  Bill.  The  Kinof  met  it  with  a  stranoe 
proposal  that,  after  his  own  death,  the  government 
should  be  carried  on  in  James's  name  bv  the  Prince  of 
Orange  as  Regent.  The  Commons  persisted  with  the 
Bill,  whereupon  the  Parliament  was  suddenly  dissolved 
by  the  King,  who  had  quietly  put  the  crown  and  robes 


1 53  The  University  of  Oxford 

of  state  into  a  sedan  cliair,  got  into  it  liimself,  and  sur- 
prised both  Houses  by  his  sudden  appearance  to  close 
the  session.  During  this  short  crisis,  anti-Papist  senti- 
ments found  expression  among  the  gownsmen,  but  we 
may  safely  assume  that  a  majority  of  gradaates  were 
secretly  in  favour  of  the  King  against  the  Exclusionists. 
Anthony  Wood,  remarking  on  the  decline  of  students  in 
1682,  attributes  it  to  three  causes.  The  first  is  the 
constant  expectation  of  another  Parliament  to  be  held  at 
Oxford,  and  the  fear  of  being  turned  out  to  make  room 
for  members.  The  second  is  that  '  all  those  that  we 
call  Whigs '  (a  name  just  invented)  '  and  side  with  the 
Parliament,  will  not  send  their  sons  for  fear  of  their 
being  Tories.'  The  last  is  that  the  University,  like  the 
Episcopal  bench,  labours  under  the  suspicion  of  a  leaning 
towards  Popery. 

In  the  following  year,  the  University  was  afforded  a 
good  opportunity  for  demonstrating  its  sympathy  with 
Doctrine  of  the  Dukc  of  York  by  the  disclosure  of  the 
XtlZir'  so-called  '  Eye  House  Plot.'  Accordingly,  on 
the'unWer-  J^%  21,  1683,  Couvocation  passed  a  decree 
^Joao?^"^"  again  condemning  the  doctrine  that  resistance 
to  a  king  is  lawful,  which  doctrine  it  formulated 
in  six  propositions  expressly  stated  to  have  been  culled 
from  the  works  of  Milton,  Baxter,  and  Goodwin.  By 
the  same  decree,  however,  the  University  recorded  an 
equally  solemn  anathema  against  other  heresies  mostly 
founded  on  the  despotic  principles  of  Hobbes'  '  Levia- 
than,' thereby  anticipating  the  verdict  of  the  country  in 
1688.  Within  three  months  of  his  death,  Charles  II., 
acting  on  these  principles,  was  betrayed  into  a  strange 
piece  of  intolerance,  more  worthy  of  his  successor,  in 


Reig.xs  of  Charles  II.  and  James  II.     159 

wliicli  lie  was  abetted  by  the  Chapter  of  Christchurch,  and 
of  which  the  illustrious  John  Locke  was  the  victim.  On 
November  5, 1G84,  a  letter  was  addressed  by  Sunderland 
to  Dr.  John  Fell,  Dean  of  Christchurch  and  Bishop  of 
Oxford,  directing  him  to  '  have  Locke  removed  from 
being  a  student.'  Fell  replied  that  Locke  had  been 
carefully  watched  for  years,  but  had  never  been  heard  to 
utter  a  disloyal  word  against  the  government,  notwith- 
Ftanding  which  he  basely  offered  to  procure  his  removal 
on  receipt  of  an  order  from  the  King,  and  actually  did  so. 
In  the  first  year  of  James  II.'s  reign,  the  University 
of  Oxford  was  once  more  stirred  by  martial  ardour,  when 
Conduct  of  the  Duke  of  Monmouth  landed  in  Dorsetshire, 
sit*!- on  tTiT  Volunteers  from  the  colleges  mustered  in  great 
MoimSmth's  forco  to  oppose  him  ;  a  troop  of  horse  and  a 
rebellion.^      reo'iment  of  foot  were  enrolled  under  the  Earl 

JtllllGS  11,  £)  O 

MSaiTn""^  of  Abingdon,  and  the  victory  of  Sedgemoor 
Coiege         ^^g    celebrated  with   academical   bonfires,   in 
which,  for  once,  the  City  took  part.    A  week  later,  upon 
a  false  alarm,  the  volunteers  were  again  called  out,  but 
soon  disbanded.     With  that  strange  ignorance  of  his 
countrymen   which  ultimately  proved  his  ruin,  James 
interpreted  these  signs  of  loyalty  as  pledges  of  abject 
devotion  to  his  person,  and  proceeded  to  strain  the  well- 
tried  fidelity  of  the  University  by  gross  outrages  on  its 
privileges.     The  grand  secret  of  his  fatuous  statecraft 
was  the  use  of  the  dispensing  power,  as  its  end  was  the 
supremacy  of  the  Crown  and    the    restoration   of  the 
ancient  faith.     Having  obtained   an  opinion  froui  the 
judges  favourable  to  this  dispensing  power,  he  had  be- 
stowed commissions  in  the  army  and  Church  preferments 
on    several  professed    Romanists.     Fell   was  succeeded 


i6o  The  University  of  Oxfcrd 

as  Dean  by  Massey,  an  avowed  Papist,  nominated 
by  James,  and  soon  afterwards  both  the  Universities 
were  attacked  by  the  new  Court  of  High  Commission. 
Cambridge  boldly  refused  to  obey  a  royal  mandate  for 
the  admission  of  a  Benedictine  to  a  degree  without 
taking  the  usual  oath.  A  severer  ordeal  was  prepared 
for  Oxford.  With  such  instruments  as  Obadiah  Walker, 
the  Master  of  University,  the  King  seriously  meditated 
the  conversion  of  the  University,  and  dispensations  were 
gi'anted  for  establishing  Romanistic  services  in  colleges. 
By  the  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  issued  in  1687,  James 
assumed  to  make  Roman  Catholics  admissible  to  corpo- 
rations ;  and  the  colleges  appeared  to  offer  a  favourable 
trial  ground  for  the  experiment.  All  Souls'  had  just 
escaped  a  royal  mandate  for  the  election  of  a  Roman 
Catholic  to  its  wardenship  by  electing  an  extreme  Tory 
of  doubtful  character,  who  had  friends  at  Court.  The 
presidentship  of  Magdalen  College"  was  now  vacant, 
and  Farmer,  a  Papist  of  notoriously  bad  character,  was 
recommended  for  it  by  royal  letters.  The  fellows  refused 
to  comply,  justifying  their  refusal  on  the  ground  that 
James's  nominee  was  not  only  unfit  for  the  office  but 
was  also  disqualified  by  their  statutes.  Accordingl}', 
after  vainly  petitioning  the  King  to  withdraw  his  com- 
mand, they  elected  Hough,  one  of  their  own  body,  to 
whom  no  exception  could  be  taken.  The  election  was 
confirmed  by  the  Visitor,  but  annulled  by  the  new  Court 
of  High  Commission,  under  the  presidency  of  JefFeries, 
who  treated  a  deputation  from  the  college  with  brutal 
insolence.  The  King  then  issued  another  order,  com- 
manding the  college  to  elect  Parker,  bishop  of  Oxford, 
an  obsequious  tool  of  his  own  policy.     He  even  came  to 


Re/gns  of  Charles  II.  and  James  IL      i6i 

Oxford  in  person,  on  September  4,  lG87,in  order  to  enforce 
obedience,  and  did  not  scruple  to  intimidate  the  fellows 
with  rude  threats  of  his  royal  displeasure  in  case  they 
should  prove  contumacious.  The  conduct  of  Magdalen 
on  this  occasion  was  eminently  constitutional,  and  had 
no  slight  inflaence  in  determining  the  attitude  of  the 
nation.  The  fellows  maintained  their  rights  firmly  but 
respectfully,  and  unanimously  declined  submission  to 
any  arbitrary  authority.  Thereupon  a  commission  was 
appointed  with  full  powers  to  dispossess  all  recusants  by 
military  force,  and  the  new  President  and  twenty-five 
fellows  were  actually  ejected  and  declared  incapable  of 
Church  preferment.  Parker  died  within  a  twelvemonth, 
but  James  substituted  one  Gifford,  a  Papist  of  the  Sor- 
bonne,  and  was  proceeding  to  repeople  the  college  with 
Roman  Catholics  when  the  acquittal  of  the  Seven 
Bishops  and  the  invitation  to  William  of  Orange  sud- 
denly opened  his  ej^'es  to  his  real  position.  During  the 
month  of  October  1688  he  made  desperate  efforts  to 
save  himself  from  ruin,  restoring  many  officers  deprived 
of  their  commissions,  dissolving  the  Ecclesiastical  Com- 
mission, and  removing  Sunderland  and  Petre  from  his 
council.  In  this  death-bed  fit  of  repentance  he  ad- 
dressed letters  to  the  bishop  of  Winchester,  as  Visitor 
of  Magdalen,  reinstating  the  ejected  fellows,  who,  how- 
ever, had  scarcely  returned  before  James  had  abdicated, 
and  William  and  Mary  had  been  proclaimed. 


M 


1 62  The  University  of  Oxford 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

UNIVERSITY    POLITICS   BETWEEN   THE   REVOLUTION  AND 
THE   ACCESSION   OF   GEORGE   III. 

'The  Eevolution  of  1688-9  seems  to  liave  been  quietly 
accepted  at  Oxford  as  an  irrevocable  fact  rather  than 
Attitnrioof  welcomed  as  the  consecration  of  civil  and  re- 
sity  town,rds  ligions  liberty.     For  a  while,  indeed,  the  out- 

the  Revulu-  .  .  „  -,.,..,  -, 

tion.   Yi-it   ragepns  invasion  oi    academical  privileges  by 

III.      ''       James    II.    produced    its    natural    effect,  and 

■deputies  from  the  University  v^ere  despatched  to  salute 

William  III.  at  Crewkerne,  after  his  landing  in  Torbay. 

"William  actually  came  as  far  as  Abingdon,  but,  there 

receiving  news  of  James's  flight,  sent  to  excuse  himself, 

•and  hurried  on  towards  London.     Burnet  tells  us  that. 

iat  the  same  time,  and  at  his  request,  the  '  Association,' 

■or  pledge  to  support  him  in  restoring  order  and  liberty, 

was  signed  by  almost  all  the  Heads  of  colleges  and  the 

chief  men  of  the  University.     But  he  adds  that  some 

of  the  signatories,  '  being  disappointed  in  the  prefer- 

.ments  they  aspired  to,  became  afterwards  King  William's 

most  implacable  enemies.'     At  all   events,  reactionary 

tendencies  gradually  manifested  themselves,  and  it  is 

said  that  Loche,  who  had  little  cause  for  gratitude  to 

Oxford,  urged  the  King  to  reform  the  Universities  once 

more,  alleging  that  otherwise  the  work  of  the  Revolution 

*  would  all  soon  go  back.'    William  had  been  recognised 

as  a  deliverer,  but  Oxford  loyalists  had  not  abandoned 


Jacobitism  at  Oxford  163 

tlieir  allegiance  to  tlie  Stuart  dynasty,  however  incon- 
sistent witli  their  submission  to  AYilliam  as  king  de  fado 
by  the  will  of  a  Parliamentary  majority.  It  was  not 
until  the  autumn  of  1695,  after  the  death  of  Mary,  and 
the  complete  transfer  of  power  to  the  Whigs,  that  he 
found  time  to  visit  the  University,  for  a  few  hours  only, 
on  his  way  from  Woodstock  to  Windsor.  He  was  re- 
ceived by  the  Chancellor,  the  second  Duke  of  Ormond, 
and  one  of  a  family  which,  as  representing  the  high 
Tory  aristocracy,  held  this  office,  as  if  by  hereditary 
right,  for  a  period  of  ninety  years.  All  the  usual  cere- 
monies were  observ^ed ;  a  select  body  of  Doctors  and 
Masters  '  rode  out  in  their  gowns  to  meet  the  King '  a 
mile  on  the  Woodstock  road,  and  a  grand  procession 
conducted  him  down  the  High  Street  to  the  east  gate  of 
the  schools,  through  which  he  passed  directly  to  the 
theatre,  where  a  sumptuous  banquet  was  prepared  for 
him.  Evelyn  states  that,  being  coldly  received,  he 
declined  the  banquet  and  barely  stayed  an  hour  j  ac- 
cording to  another  report,  in  itself  improbable,  the  fear 
of  poison  deterred  him  from  tasting  the  refreshments 
^provided.  However  this  may  be,  he  certainly  never 
courted  or  acquired  popularity  at  the  University,  which 
henceforth  became  a  hotbed  of  Jacobite  disaffection  for 
at  least  two  generations. 

The  exact  source  of  this  sentiment  is  somewhat 
difficult  to  ascertain,  but  it  was  probably  a  survival  of 
Origin  of  the  Puritau  Visitation,  and  was  doubtlet^s  con- 
jitTitism.  nected  with  hearty  respect  for  the  Non-jurors, 
Queeu'Anne  to  whoso  rauks,  howcvor,  Oxford  contributed 
fewer  resident  members  than  Cambridge.  But  Oxford 
Churchmen  assuredly  cherished  a  genuine  hatred  of  the 

M  2 


164  The  University  of  Oxford 

■  latituclinarlan  opinions  attribnted  to  William  III.,  and 
afterwards  patronised  by  Whig  statesmen.  Whatever 
in;iy  have  been  its  source,  and  whether  it  was  in  the 
ratnre  of  a  settled  conviction  or  of  an  inveterate  fashion, 
Jacobite  partisanship  was  shared  alike  by  '  dons'  and  by 
indergraduates,  it  was  the  one  important  element  in 
the  external  history  of  the  University  under  the  first 
two  Georges,  and,  like  Scotch  Jacobitism,  it  retained  a 
sort  of  poetical  existence  up  to  a  still  later  period.  In 
their  opposition  to  the  Comprehension  Scheme  promoted 
by  the  King,  the  University  of  Oxford  was  supported  by 
that  of  Cambridge,  in  which  there  long  continued  to  be 
a  strong  Jacobite  minority,  but  which,  by  comparison 
with  Oxford,  soon  came  to  be  regarded  as  a  nursery  of 
Whig  principles.  Still  the  commission  appointed  to 
prepare  a  scheme  of  Comprehension  included  the  name? 
of  Aldrich,  afterwards  dean  of  Christchurch,  who  had 
succeeded  the  Romanist  Massey,  and  Jane,  Regius  Pro- 
fessor of  divinity,  who  had  been  converted  from  extreme 
Toryism  by  James  II.'s  aggression  on  Magdalen,  but 
was  reconverted  by  William  III.'s  neglect  of  his  claims 
to  a  bishopric.  The  hopes  of  a  Jacobite  reaction,  ex- 
cited by  the  accession  of  Queen  Anne,  found  an  enthu- 
siastic echo  in  the  University.  On  July  16,  1702,  a 
grand  '  Philological  Exercise '  was  celebrated  in  the 
theatre  for  the  special  purpose  of  honouring  the  new 
Queen.  On  August  26  of  the  same  year.  Queen  Anne 
herself  visited  Oxford,  where  a  fierce  struggle  for  pre- 
ce  lence  at  her  reception  took  place  between  the  Univer- 
sity and  City,  which  afterwards  showed  more  respect  for 
the  Stuart  dynasty  in  exile  than  when  it  was  on  the  throne. 
Burnet  complains  bitterly  of  the  clerical  Toryism  and 


Jacoditism  at  Oxford  165 

ecclesiastical  bigotry  which  prevailed  at  Oxford  in  1704, 
accusing  the  University  of  '  corrupting  the  principle  1  * 
of  its  students.  Hearne,  the  learned  Oxford  chronicler, 
writing  on  September  2,  1705,  notices  a  thanksgiving 
sermon  preached  by  a  Mr.  Evans,  of  St.  John's,  a  clergy- 
man of  doubtful  character,  of  which  Dr.  Lloyd,  bishop 
of  Worcester,  said  that  '  he  was  very  glad  there  was  one 
even  in  Oxford  that  would  speak  for  King  William.' 
He  adds,  three  days  later,  that  Evans  liad  talkr^d 
mightily  of  publishing  this  sermon,  but  that  '  there  is 
none  in  Oxford  will  print  a  thing  so  scandalously  partial 
against  the  Church  of  England.' 

During  the  furious  outbreak  of  High  Church 
fanaticism,  which  rallied  the  mass  of  English  clergy  and 
To  uiarit  shattered  the  Whig  ascendency  at  the  end  of 
ofsachp-       1709,  the  a'ownsmen  were  active  partisans  of 

vcre.l.   Posi-     -^  '         5  to  i 

turn  of  the  j3j.^  Sacheverell,himself  a  graduate  of  Magdalen, 
miuority  rpj^g  vice-chanccllor  came  forward  as  surety  for 
him,  Atterbury,  the  future  dean  of  Christchurch,  de- 
fended him  with  great  ability,  and  Oxford  afterwards  gave 
Ji.im  an  enthusiastic  reception.  The  House  of  Lords 
marked  its  sense  of  this  disloyalty  in  the  following  year 
by  causing  the  famous  University  decree  of  1683  to  be 
publicly  burned,  together  with  Sacheverell's  sermons. 
No  sooner  did  Queen  Anne  disavow  her  Whig  adviser-a 
and  place  herself  openly  under  Tory  influences,  than 
Oxford,  undeterred  by  this  rebuke,  paraded  its  Toryism 
without  disguise,  and,  had  it  retained  its  old  place  in 
national  politics,  the  Hanoverian  succession  would  have 
encountered  a  still  more  formidable  opposition.  Bat  tlie 
Whig  oligarchy  again  saved  the  country.  After  four 
years  of  Tory  policy,  another  crisis  occurred,  the  Tory 


i66  The  University  of  Oxford 

ministry  broke  up,  the  great  Wliig  lords  forced  their 
way  into  the  council  chamber,  the  Hanoverian  succes- 
sion was  secured,  and  Queen  Anne  opportunely  died. 
The  accession  of  the  Elector  of  Hanover  was  received  at 
Oxford  with  sullen  disappointment,  but  the  Heads  of 
Houses  consulted  their  own  interests  by  offering  a  reward 
of  lOOZ.  for  the  discovery  of  an  unknown  person  who 
had  delivered  at  the  mayor's  house  a  letter  protesting- 
against  the  proclamation  of  George  I.  He  was  pro- 
claimed, nevertheless,  at  St.  Mary's,  as  well  as  at  Carfax., 
but  the  scantiness  of  the  attendance  and  shabbiness  of 
the  procession  was  remarked  with  satisfaction  by  the 
Tories.  Baffled  in  their  hopes  of  support  in  the  highest 
quarter,  the  Tory  democracy  of  the  University  took 
refuge  in  libels,  disloyal  toasts,  and  offensive  lampoons. 
The  Whig  gownsmen,  few  as  they  were,  and  mostly 
confined  to  New  College,  Oriel,  and  Merton,  had  an 
influential  protector  in  Gardiner,  the  Warden  of  All 
Souls',  and  vice-chancellor  from  1712  to  1715,  himself  a 
moderate  Tory,  but  resolute  in  saving  the  University 
from  the  risk  of  casting  in  its  lot  with  the  Pretender. 
They  formed  themselves  into  a  club,  which  they  called 
the  '  Constitution  Club,'  and  to  which  no  one  below  the 
rank  of  B.A.  was  eligible.  This  club  soon  became  the 
chief  object  of  Tory  resentment,  at  last  culminating  in  a 
riot  which  called  for  the  intervention  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

On  May  28,  1715,  being  the  first  anniversary  of 
George  I.'s  birthday  since  his  accession,  the  Whig  club 
had  assembled  to  commemorate  the  day  at  the  King's 
Head  tavern.  They  were  attacked  by  a  Tory  mob,  and 
a  fray  ensued,  which  broke  out  afresh  on  the  following 


Jacoditism  at  Oxford  167 

cLay,  being  the  Restoration-cky.  The  Heads  of  Houses, 
and  even  the  grand  jury  for  tlie  county,  sheltered  the 
Jacobite  aggressoio,  and  reserved  all  their  rebukes  for 
UouT'^a'''  t^i®  obnoxious  club.  The  government  natur- 
hoS  Fcut  ^^1  t<^ok  a  different  view  of  the  case,  and 
to  Oxford  called  for  explanations.  Feeling  that  matters- 
had  gone  far  enough,  the  University  authorities 
took  means  to  suppress  Jacobite  ileraonstrations  on 
June  10,  the  Pretender's  birthday;  but  they  were  at  no 
pains  to  conceal  their  real  inclinations.  On  the  im- 
peachment and  resignation  of  Ormoud,  the  Univeisity 
hastened  to  elect  his  brother,  the  Earl  of  Arrau,  as  his 
successor  in  the  chancellorship,  and  conferred  the 
degree  of  D.C.L.  on  Sir  Constantino  Phipps,  a  Tory  ot 
Tories,  with  special  marks  of  honour,  while  its  repre- 
sentatives in  Parliament  tvere  prominent  leaders  of  the 
same  party.  At  last  the  patience  of  the  government 
was  exhausted.  On  the  birthday  of  the  Prince  of  Wales 
there  were  no  signs  of  rejoicing,  and  complaint  of  this 
omission  was  made  to  the  mayor  by  an  officer  in  com- 
mand of  a  recruiting  party  then  in  Oxford.  Another 
disturbance  ensued,  of  which  conflicting  accounts  were 
sent  to  London,  and  the  whole  affair  came  before  the 
House  of  Lords  in  the  course  of  a  debate  on  the  ]\Iutiny 
Bill.  The  University  was  ably  represented,  and  a 
plausible  defence  was  offered  on  its  behalf,  but  the 
verdict  of  the  House  was  unfavourable.  In  the  mean- 
time, an  address  to  the  Crown  voted  by  the  University 
on  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion  in  Scotland  had  met 
with  the  reception  which  its  insincerity  deserved,  and 
the  government  determined  to  employ  decisive  measures. 
A  body  of  dragoons  under  Major-General  Pepper  entered 


1 68  The  University  of  Oxford 

Oxford,  martial  law  was  at  once  proclaimed,  and  tlie 
students  were  ordered  to  remain  within  their  colleo-es  on 

a 

pain  of  being  marched  off  to  military  execution.  After 
a  lew  seizures  had  been  made,  the  drao'oons  were  re- 
placed  by  Colonel  Handy  side's  regiment  of  foot,  which 
continued  to  be  quartered  in  Oxford  for  the  express 
purpose  of  overaw^ing  the  University — no  unnecessary 
measure  when  a  rebellion  of  unknown  extent  had  been 
planned  not  only  iu  Scotland  and  the  north  of  England 
but  in  the  western  counties.  It  w^as  on  this  occasion 
that  an  Oxford  wit  contrasted  the  King's  severe  treat- 
ment of  Oxford  with  his  munificent  present  of  a  library 
to  Cambridge  in  lines  which,  together  with  the  Cam- 
bridge repartee,  have  become  historical. 

On  May  29  of  the  following  year,  while  Colonel 
Handyside's  regiment  was  still  in  Oxford,  the  Constitu- 
The  consti-    tiou  Club   was  again  the  scene  of  a  political 

tntion  Club.  •  i  i  r-  i 

Governnieut  commotiou,   thougli  of  a  Icss  seHous  nature. 

sclieme  for        -» r        i  i 

roiormiag      Meadowcourt,  the  steward  of  the  club,  having- 

the  Uui-  /.IT.- 

versity  forccd  the  junior  proctor  to  drink  the  King's 
health,  was  suspended  from  his  degree  for  the  space  of 
two  years  ;  and  it  was  further  ordered  that  he  should 
not  be  allowed  to  supplicate  for  his  grace  '  until  he  con- 
fesses his- manifold  crimes  and  asks  pardon  upon  his 
knees.'  In  spite  of  the  King's  Act  of  Grace,  to  wdiich  he 
skilfully  appealed,  he  was  twice  refused  his  M.  A.  deo-ree. 
He  lived,  however,  to  bring  the  disaffection  of  the  Uni- 
versity under  the  notice  of  the  government  in  1719, 
when  the  vice-chancellor  refused  to  notice  a  disloyal 
sermon  preached  by  Warton,  though  he  was  disap- 
pointed to  receive  no  more  than  a  letter  of  thanks  for 
his  zeal.     Other  Whigs  endured  similar  persecutions; 


Jacoditism  at  Oxford  169 

the  Whig  satirist,  Amherst,  was  driven  out  of  St.  John's 
College,   and   social  penalties  were  freely  inflicted   on 
members  of  Merton,  Exeter,  Christchurch,  and  Wadham, 
then  suspected  of  being  anti-Jacobite  societies.     The 
Constitution  Club  died  out  before  the  end  of  George  I.'s 
reign,    and   many   academical    Whigs    became   so  dis- 
heartened as  to  conceal  their  principles  or  even  to  affect 
Toryism  for  the  sake  of  preferment.    Indeed,  the  avowed 
hostility   of  Oxford  and  the  doubtful  fidelity  of  Cam- 
bridge to  the  reigning  dynasty  were  regarded  with  so 
much  anxiety  -at  Court  that  it  was  seriously   contem- 
plated to  introduce  a  Bill  to  suspend  the  constitution  of 
both  Universities.     The  draught  of  this  Bill  empowered 
the  '  King  to  nominate  and  appoint  all  and  every  the 
Chancellor,  Vice-Chancellor,  Proctors,  and  other  oSicers 
of  the  said  Universities,  and  all  Heads  of  Houses,  Fellows, 
Students,  Chaplains,  Scholars,  and  Exhibitioners,  and  all 
members  of  and  in  all  and  every  the  College  and  Colleges, 
Hall  and  Halls  in  the  said  Universities  or  either  of  them, 
upon  all  and  every  vacancy  and  vacancies,'  &c.     This 
provisional  administration  was  to  last  for  seven  years, 
and  the  project  of  it  was  approved  by  fifteen  bishops. 
Lord  Macclesfield,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  had  di-awn  up  a 
separate  plan   of  reform  with  the  same  object  of  con- 
trolling the  University  through  government  patronage. 
The  election  of  Heads  was  to  be  vested  in  the  great 
officers  of  State,  with  the  concurrence  of  the  Visitor  and 
the  bishop.     The  disposition  of  all  other  college  emolu- 
ments was  to  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  commission. 
The  fellowships  were  to  be  limited  to  a  term  of  twenty 
years,   lest  they  should  conduce  to  idleness  and  self- 
indulgence.        Professorships    and    minor    fellowships 


I/O  The  University  of  Ox  lord 

ciiarged  with  educationtil  cTiiaes  were  to  be  founded.  The 
benefices  of  tlie  Crown  and  the  nobility  were  to  be  con- 
ferred onl}'  on  '  well-affected  persons.'  Colleges  in  which 
'  honest  and  loyal  men '  predominate  were  to  be  specially 
favoured  in  the  distribution  of  Crown  patronage,  '  till 
the  true  interest  in  them  was  become  superior  to  all 
opposition.'  Happily  wiser  counsels  prevailed,  and 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  Archbishop  Wake  was 
largely  instruuiental  in  averting  the  danger.  He  knew 
that  Oxford  Tories  could  only  be  influenced  through 
Tory  leaders,  and  discreetly  used  such  mediation  to  keep 
the  factious  spirit  of  the  Universiry  within  tolerable 
bounds,  until  the  design  against  its  independence  was 
abandoned.  But  George  I.  never  deigned  to  visit 
Oxford,  being  the  first  sovereign  who  had  failed  to  do 
so  since  the  reign  of  Mary. 

During  the  earlier  years  of  Walpole's  administra- 
tion the  University  seems  to  have  been  comparatively 
Gradual        free    from    political    turmoil.       Many    of   the 

decline  of  ■^  •' 

jacobi  i  m     gownsmen,    however,    took     part    with    the 

111  Oxford  .    ,  .    •  ^         ^  ^ 

duriuijtiie     citizeiis  in  the  disorderly    revels,   lastino-   for 

rei.sn  of  .  t/  :;  o 

George  II.  three  nights,  which  celebrated  the  withdrawal 
of  the  Excise  Bill,  in  1733,  when  the  healths  of  Ormond, 
Bolingbroke,  and  James  III.  were  publicly  drunk  round 
the  bonfires.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  following  year 
the  University  accorded  an  enthusiastic  reception  to 
the  Prince  of  Orange,  who  came  to  marry  the  Princess 
Anne.  The  city  shared  in  these  festivities,  conferring 
its  freedom  upon  the  prince  at  the  north  gate  on  his 
return  from  Blenheim,  while  bell-ringing,  illuminations, 
and  bonfires  were  kept  up  for  three  nights  together. 
Still  covert   Jacobitism  found  expression  in  the  Uni- 


Jacobitism  at  Oxford  171 

versity  puliDit,   and    John  Wesley,    desiring   to    guiird 
himself  against  the  imputation  of  it  wlien  lie  preached 
before  the  University  in  1734,  got  the  vice-chancellor  to 
read  and  approve  his  sernion  beforehand.     Even  after 
tlie  suppression  of  the  rebellion  in  1745  it  was  not  ex- 
tinct, and  in   1748  the  government  resorted  to  some- 
what excessive  severity  against  three  students  who  had 
toasted  the  Pretender,  although  the  vice-chancellor  and 
proctors,    apprehensive    of  the    result,    had    issued    a 
peremptory    order    declaring   their   resolution   to    put 
down    seditious    practices.     Further    proceedings  were 
instituted  against  the  vice-chancellor  and  the  University 
itself,  but  the  motion  was  negatived  by  the-  Court.     The 
government,  however,   was  not   appeased.     When  the 
peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  was  proclaimed  at  Oxford,  the 
vice-chancellor.  Heads  of  Houses,  professors,  and  proctors 
took  care  to  participate  in  public  rejoicings  with  the 
mayor   and   corporation,  but  a   congratulatory  address 
from  the  University  on  this  event  was  rejected  with 
disdain.     The  loyalty  of  the  University  was  still  justly 
distrusted.     In  1754  Dr.  King,   a  notorious  Jacobite, 
and  Principal    of   St.    Mary    Hall,    elicited  rounds   of 
applause  from  the  whole  audience  in  the  theatre,  filled 
with  peers,  members  of  Parliament,  and  country  gentle- 
men, by  thrice  pausing  upon  the  word  Recleat^  purposely 
introduced  into  his  speech  to  gratify  '  the  Old  Interest.' 
No  wonder  that  in  the  same  year  Pitt  denounced  Ox- 
ford Jacobitism  in  the  House  of  Commons ;  notwith- 
standing which,  in  the  following  year   (1755),   a  Tory 
and  Jacobite   mob,    guarding   the    approaches    to    the 
polling-booths  at  the  county  election  for  days  together, 
prevented  the  Whigs  from  giving  their  votes.     Again, 


172  The  University  of  Oxford 

in  1759,  Lord  Westmoreland,  wlio  had  been  a  zealous 
Hanoverian,  but  had  afterwards  turned  Jacobite  out  of 
resentment  against  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  was  elected  by 
the  University  as  its  Chancellor.  Yet  the  days  of  Oxford 
Jacobitism  were  already  numbered  ;  it  was  w^ell  nigh 
dead  as  a  creed,  and  it  soon  ceased  to  be  a  fashion.  The 
marvellous  victories  of  the  same  year  kindled  genuine 
enthusiasm  among  the  gownsmen,  and  a  most  fulsome 
address  was  presented  to  George  II.  by  the  Oxford 
Convocation,  begging  '  leave  to  approach  your  sacred 
person  w4th  hearts  full  of  duty  and  affection,'  and 
applauding  the  measures  taken  '  for  the  support  of  the 
Protestant  religion  and  the  liberties  of  Europe.' 

With  the  accession  of  George  III  Jacobitism  dis- 
appeared or  faded  into  Toryism  of  the  modern  type.  In 
Eevivai  of     its  cono'ratulatorv  address  the  University  took 

loyaltyafter  "="         T^    ^       -^      ir    r       i         •  l  c 

the  acces-      spcciai  Credit  to  itseii  tor  havmec  been  '  ever 

sionof  p   .   1    n   1  . 

George  III.  faithtul  to  monarchy  on  the  most  trymof  occa- 
Oxford  sions.      1  he  Ivmgs  reply  was  guarded,  recom- 

mending '  sound  principles  of  religious  and  civil  duties 
early  instilled  into  the  minds  of  youth.'  His  advice 
seems  to  have  been  adopted ;  at  all  events,  we  hear  no 
more  of  academical  Jacobitism,  loyalty  to  George  III. 
became  fashionable.  Dr.  King  himself  appeared  at  Court, 
and  the  University  was  probably  sincere  when,  in  1763, 
it  proposed  inviolable  '  attachment  to  your  Majesty's 
person  and  government.'  It  may  perhaps  have  been  in 
recognition  of  this  salutary  change  in  its  attitude  that 
in  1768  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons  paid  it 
an  elaborate  compliment,  in  censuring  the  authorities 
of  Oxford  City  for  a  gross  act  of  political  corruption, 
specially    recommending  for  imitation  the  conduct    of 


Jacoditism  at  Oxford  i73 

their  learned  neighbour.     In   the  follov/ing  year,  the 
University   presented   another   address   to   the   Crown 
deprecating    political    agitation     'under    pretence    of 
defending  civil  and  religious  liberties,'  and  assuring  his 
]\lajesty  of  its  determination  to  imbue  its  students  with 
sound  principles.    By  a  happy  inconsistency,  academical 
loyalists  now  managed  to  reconcile  their  old  worship  of 
the  king  de  jure  with  a  hearty  acceptance  of  the  Hano- 
verian succession.     Probably  Dr.  Nowell,  Principal  of 
St.  Mary  Hall,  fairly  represented  these  sentiments  when 
he  reasserted  the  doctrines  of  divine  right  and  passive 
obedience  in  a  sermon   preached  before  the  House  of 
Commons  in  1772,  for  which  he  was  first  thanked  and 
then  censured.    It  deserves  notice,  however,  that  a  more 
liberal   spirit   already   made   itself    felt   in    regard   to 
religious  toleration.     Though  Sir  Roger  Newdigate,  on 
behalf  of  the  University,  stoutly  opposed  the  relief  of 
clergymen  from  subscription  to  the  Thirty- nine  Articles, 
a  strong  minority  in  the  Oxford  Convocation  supported, 
in   February  1773,  a  proposal  for  requiring  from  candi- 
dates for  matriculation  only  a  declaration  of  conformity 
to  the  worship  and  liturgy  of  the  Established  Church. 
An  attempt  was  afterwards  made  to  qualify  the  effect  of 
subscription  by  appending  to  the  statute  requiring  it  an 
explanatory  note  whereby  it  was  virtually  reduced  to  a 
declaration  of  conformity,  but  the  legal  validity  of  such 
an   enactment  was  challenged,    and    the  proposal  was 
quietly  dropped.     In  Mai'ch   1779,  a  petition  was  pre- 
sented by  the  University,  through  its  chancellor,  Lord 
North,   against   the  Dissenters'    Toleration    Bill,    then 
before  Parliament.      This  petition  embodied  a  protest 
against  the  principle  of  allowing  dissenting  ministers 


174  The  University  of  Oxford 

and  sclioolmasters  to  preacli  and  teacli  without  making 
any  profession  of  belief  in  Christianity  or  revelation,  but 
the  petitioners  were  careful  to  describe  themselves  as 
friends  of  toleration,  so  far  as  it  could  be  reconciled  with 
the  interests  of  Christianity  and  the  Established  Church. 
These  were  the  sentiments  of  the  King  himself,  and  a 
crowning  proof  of  its  fidelity  to  George  III.  was  given 
by  the  University  in  1783,  when  it  publicly  thanked 
the  King  for  dismissing  the  Coalition  Ministry  (including 
its  own  Chancellor),  and  giving  his  confidence  to  Pitt — 
a  service  which  the  king  rev/arded  by  visiting  Oxford 
twice  from  Nuneham  Park,  in  1785  and  178G.  On 
each  occasion  he  received  an  enthusiastic  welcome, 
but  as  it  was  in  the  middle  of  the  Long  Vacation,  he 
stayed  but  a  few  hours,  and  the  traditional  solemnities 
of  royal  visits  were  not  repeated.  A  like  enthusiasm 
was  shown  by  the  University  on  his  recovery  from  his 
first  illness  in  1788. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

UNIVERSITY   STUDIES   IN   THE   EIGHTEENTH   CENTURY. 

If  we  seek  to  estimate  the  intellectual  life  of  Oxford 
during  the  century  following  the  Revolution,  we  find  a 
Decay  of  Significant  dearth  of  trustworthy  materials. 
SuSi7in  Such  evidence  as  we  possess,  hov\^ever,  justifies 
teeiith^ceii.  ^^  ^^  wholo  the  reccivod  opinion  that  this 
tury  period  is  the  Dark  Age  of  academical  history. 

The  impulse  given  to  culture  and  scholarship  by  the 
new  learning  of  the  Renaissance  had  died  away  as  com- 


Studies  in  the  Eighteenth  Century    175 

pletely  as  tliat  given  by  the  scliolastic  revival  of  tlie 
thirteenth  century,  and  nothing  came  in  to  supply  its 
place.  The  old  disputations  were  almost  obsolete,  the 
Laudian  system  of  examinations  had  fallen  into 
scandalous  abuse,  the  sex  solemnes  lectiones  required  for 
the  B.A.  degree  had  degenerated  into  '  wall  lectures ' 
read  in  an  empty  school.  The  practice  of  cramming, 
however,  was  unknown,  and  there  were  no  artificial 
restrictions  to  prevent  Oxford  becoming  a  paradise  of 
mature  study  and  original  research. 

Unhappily,  it  was   far  otherwise.     Tliough  under- 
graduates were  freely  admitted  to  the  Bodl;  iaii  Library, 
contem-        and  it  was  frequently  enriched  by  donations, 
E?'^"    we  learn  that  between  1730  and  1740  many 
days    passed   without    there    being   a    single     reader 
there,  and  it  was  rare  for  more  than  two  books  to  be 
consulted   in  a   day.       Dean  Prideaux,   who  had  long 
resided  in  Oxford,  professes,  in  1691,  '  an  unconquerable 
aversion  to  the  place,'  doubtless  aggravated  by  his  im- 
patience of  Jacobite  ascendency  in  the  University,  but 
partly  founded  on  his  conviction  of  its  decline  as  a  seat 
of  education.     Hearne,  writing  in  1726,  declared  that 
in  nearly  all  the  colleges  the   fellows  were  busied  in 
litigation  and  quarrels  having  no  connection  with  the 
promotion  of  learning,  adding  that  '  good  letters  miser- 
ably decay  every  day,  insomuch  that  this  Ordination 
on  Trinity  Sunday  at  Oxford  there  were  no  fewer  (as  I 
am  informed)  than  fifteen  denied  Orders  for  insufficiency 

which  is  the  more  to  be  noted,  because  our  bishops 

and  those  employed  by  them  are  themselves  generally 
illiterate  men.'  Similar  complaints  against  the  dege- 
neracy of  University  teaching   abound  in  eighteenth- 


lyS  The  University  of  Oxford 

centmy  literature.  Adam  Smith,  in  particular,  attri- 
butes the  inefficiency  of  tutors  and  professors  chiefly  to 
the  fact  of  their  being  paid  by  fixed  stipends  instead  of 
by  fees.  Johnson  testifies  that  he  learned  very  little 
at  Pembroke  College ;  Lord  Malmesbury  regarded  his 
two  years  at  Merton  College  as  the  most  unprofitable  of 
his  life ;  Swift  represents  drinking  strong  ale  and 
smoking  tobacco  as  the  chief  accomplishments — not 
indeed  of  all  students,  but  of  '  young  heirs  '  sent  to 
Oxford  in  deference  to  custom  ;  Lord  Chesterfield  speaks 
of  the  University  as  known  only  for  its  '  treasonable 
spirit,'  and  says  that,  having  been  at  Oxford  himself,  he 
resolved  not  to  send  his  son  there  ;  Lord  Eldon  describes 
the  degree-examination  in  his  own  time  as  merely 
nominal.  But  perhaps  the  most  emphatic  condemnation 
of  the  Oxford  system  in  the  eighteenth  century  is 
supplied  by  the  historian  Gibbon,  whose  reminiscences 
of  his  own  University  career  are  often  quoted  as  conclu- 
sive evidence  on  the  state  of  the  University  in  1752-8. 
He  laments  the  fourteen  months  which  he  spent  at 
Magdalen  College  as  the  '  most  idle  and  unprofitable  of 
his  whole  life.'  He  declares  that  '  in  the  University  of 
Oxford,  the  greater  part  of  the  Public  Professors  have 
for  these  many  years  given  up  even  the  pretence  of 
teaching.'  He  testifies  that,  in  his  timO;  '  the  Fellows  of 
Magdalen  were  decent  easy  men  who  supinely  enjoyed 
the  gifts  of  the  Founder ;  their  days  were  filled  by  a 
series  of  uniform  employments  :  the  chapel  and  the  hall, 
the  coffee-house  and  the  common-room  ;  till  they  retired, 
weary  and  well-satisfied,  to  a  long  slumber.  From  the 
toil  of  reading,  or  thinking,  or  writing,  they  had  ab- 
solved  their  conscience.'     He   proceeds  to  allege  that 


Studies  in  the  Eighteenth  Century    lyj 

gentlemen-commoners  were  left  to  educate  themselves, 
that  '  tlie  obvious  methods  of  public  exercises  and  ex- 
aminations were  totally  unknown,'  that  no  superintend- 
ence was  exercised  over  the  relations  of  tutors  with  their 
pupils,  that  his  own  tutor,  though  a  good  old-fashioned 
scholar,  took  no  pains  to  stimulate  or  encourage  his 
industry,  and  that  he  was  allowed  to  make  '  a  tour  to 
Bath,  a  visit  into  Buckinghamshire,  and  four  excursions 
into  London,  in  the  same  winter/ 

We  cannot  but  acknowledge  that  Gibbon's  estimate 
of  the  University  in  the  middle  of  the  century  is  com 
Decline  in  fii'Hied  by  an  examination  of  University  records , 
Scartiaor'^  If  we  may  judge  by  the  statistics  of  matricu- 
science  and'  l^i-tion,  the  uatiou  at  large  had  lost  confidence 
literature  ^^  Qxford  education,  for  the  annual  number 
of  admissions,  which  had  often  exceeded  100  in  the 
reigns  of  Anne  and  George  I.,  never  reached  that 
modest  total  between  1726  and  1810,  while  it  often  fell 
below  200  about  the  end  of  Geoi-ge  II. 's  reign.  It  is 
equally  certain  that  Oxford  contributed  far  less  than  in 
former  ages  to  politics  or  literature.  In  learning  it  was 
distanced  by  Cambridge,  where  the  modern  examination 
system  was  developed  earlier,  and  where  the  immortal 
researches  of  Newton  and  the  solid  learning  of  Bentley 
had  raised  the  ideal  of  academical  study.  But  the  real 
intellectual  leadership  of  the  country  was  transferred 
from  both  Universities  to  London.  Indeed,  London 
itself  was  no  longer  the  only  non-academical  centre  of 
science,  art,  and  culture  ;  for  ev^en  provincial  towns, 
like  Birmingham  and  Manchester,  Derby  and  Bristol, 
Norwich,  Leeds,  and  Newcastle,  were  already  acquiring 
an  industrial  independence,  and  intellectual  life,  of  their 

N 


173  The  University  of  Oxford 

own.  The  Methodist  Kevival,  indeed,  of  which  Gibbon 
was  probably  unconscious,  owed  its  origin  to  a  small 
baud  of  enthusiasts  at  Oxford.^  But,  except  Methodism, 
the  great  movements  of  thought  which  underlay  the 
artificial  society  of  the  eighteenth  century  had  no  con- 
nection with  the  University,  and  the  minds  which 
dominated  the  world  of  politics  and  literature  were 
trained  in  a  wholly  different  school.  The  broad  con- 
structive ideas,  and  '  encyclopaedic  spirit,'  as  it  has  been 
well  called,  which  animated  so  many  writers  and  politi- 
cians of  that  age.  in  all  the  countries  of  western  Europe, 
had  little  or  no  place  in  the  University  of  Oxford.  It 
was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  engineers  and  inventors, 
like  Watt,  Arkwright,  and  Brindley,  should  have  re- 
ceived an  University  education,  nor  do  we  look  in  degree- 
lists  for  the  names  of  eminent  soldiers  like  Wellington, 
•  or  nautical  explorers  like  Cook.  But  it  is  certainly  re- 
;markable  that  so  many  English  poets  and  humourists — 
Pope  and  Gay,  Defoe,  Smollett,  and  Hogarth — should 
have  receiv^ed  no  University  education,  while  Swift, 
Congreve,  and  Goldsmith  were  students  of  Dublin, 
Thomson  of  Edinburgh,  Fielding  of  Ley  den.  Prior, 
Sterne,  and  Gray,  of  Cambridge.  Again,  if  we  look  to 
graver  departments  of  literature,  or  the  history  of 
■science,  the  result  is  still  the  same.  Robertson  was 
educated  at  Glasgow,  Hume  in  France,  Berkeley  in 
Dublin ;  Herschel  and  Priestley  owed  nothing  to  Uni- 
versity education,  nor  did  John  Howard,  or  Joshua 
Keynolds,  or  John  Yfilkes,  or  many  others  who  power- 

'  No  descrijjtion  is  here  given  of  the  origin  and  progress  of 
Methodism  in  Oxford,  since  the  history  of  the  Methodist  Ilevival  is 
reserved  ipr  a  separate  volume  in  the  present  series. 


Studies  ix  the  Eighteenth  Century    179 

fully  intlueiiced  the  minds  of  the  Georgian  era.  Jeremy 
Bentham,  it  is  true,  received  a  part  of  his  education 
at  Queen's  College,  but  he  carried  away  no  kindly  re- 
collection of  his  college  life,  and  sums  up  his  estimate 
of  Oxford  training  in  a  single  acrimonious  sentence — 
'  Mendacity  and  insincerity — in  these  I  found  the 
effects,  the  sure  and  only  sure  effects,  of  an  English 
University  education.' 

On  the  other  hand,  it  would  be  easy  to  overstate  both 
the  intellectual  sterility  and  the  educational  torpor  of 
Counter  ^^^  University  in  the  century  following  the 
ev'dciice  Revolution.  The  ripe  scholarship  and  academic 
ludTeSn-  ^^^'  ^^  Addison  may  still  be  appreciated  in  the 
whoi' "''"''*  pages  of  the  '  Spectator,'  and  Dr.  Parr,  in 
ncg  ected  replying  to  Gibbon,  was  able  to  compile  an 
imposing  list  of  Oxford  gi-aduates  in  the  eighteenth 
century  '  distinguished  by  claSwsical,  oriental,  theological, 
or  mathematical  knowledge,  by  professional  skill,  or  by 
parliamentary  abilities.'  We  must  remember  that  when 
the  historian  entered  Magdalen  College  as  a  gentleman- 
commoner,  he  was  in  his  fifteenth  year ;  when  he  lefb 
it,  he  was  barely  sixteen.  The  college  did  not  then 
Ijear  a  high  reputation  for  industry,  there  were  no 
commoners,  and  gentlemen-commoners,  being  of  a  dif- 
ferent social  class  from  the  '  demies,'  were  supposed 
to  enjoy  the  privilege  of  idleness.  Gibbon  himself 
mentions  that  Corpus  was  fortunate  in  possessing  an 
admirable  tutor  in  John  Burton.  He  also  candidly 
admits  that  BisLop  Lowth  was  a  bright  exception  to 
professional  sinecurism,  and  quotes  the  bishop's  descrip- 
tion of  his  own  academical  life,  which  is  too  often  for- 
gotten, when  Gibbon's  adverse  criticism  is  magnified 

N  2 


i8o  The  University  of  Oxford 

into  a  judicial  utterance.  '  I  spent  many  3'ears,'  says 
Lowtli,  '  in  that  illustrious  society,  in  a  well-regulated 
course  of  useful  discipline  and  studies  ....  where  a 
liberal  pursuit  of  knowledge,  and  a  genuine  freedom  of 
thought,  was  raised,  encouraged,  and  pushed  forward 
by  example,  by  commendation,  and  by  authority.' 
Moreover,  Gibbon  allows  that  his  father  may  have  been 
unfortunate  in  the  selection  of  a  college  and  a  tutor, 
that  Sir  William  Scott's  tutorial,  and  Blackstone's  pro- 
fessorial, lectures  had  done  honour  to  Oxford,  that  learn- 
ing had  been  made  '  a  duty,  a  pleasure,  and  even  a 
fashion '  at  Christchurch,  and  that  reforuis  in  the  sys- 
tem of  instruction  had  been  effected  elsewhere.  Lord 
Sheffield,  the  editor  of  his  memoirs,  adds  further  proofs 
of  the  same  improvement,  and,  on  the  whole.  Gibbon's 
testimony  must  be  taken  as  a  somewhat  one-sided  state- 
ment of  a  witness  strongly  prejudiced  against  the 
ecclesiastical  character  of  Oxford,  and  irritated  by  the 
necessity  of  quitting  it,  owing  to  his  conversion  to 
Romanism.  Similar  deductions  must  be  made  from  the 
testimony  of  Bentham,  who  entered  Queen's"  in  17 GO,  at 
the  age  of  13,  and  took  his  degree,  in  1763,  at  the  age 
of  16,  having  cherished  a  precocious  contempt  for 
juvenile  amusements,  and  a  precocious,  though  reason- 
able, objection  to  signing  the  XXXIX  Articles,  in  spite 
of  conscientious  doubts. 

It  is  impossible  to  ascertain  how  far  the  admitted 
decay  of  University  lectures  and  examinations  was  com- 
pensated by  college  tuition.  But  it  is  clear  that  some 
colleges  maintained  an  educational  system  of  their  own, 
and  imposed  exercises  on  their  members,  often  in  the 
form  of  declamations  or  disputations,  which  stood  more 


Studies  in  the  Eighteenth  Century    i8i 

or  less  in  the  place  of  those  formerly  required  by  the 
University.  At  Merton  College,  for  instance,  there 
were  regular  hall-disputations,  in  which  even  gentle- 
men-commoners ^vere  expected  to  bear  their  part,  besides 
more  solemn  disputations  in  divinity  for  Bachelors  of 
Arts,  and  '  Variations'  for ' Master-Fellows '  at  the  end  of 
the  Act  Term.  These  Variations,  as  described  in  a  work 
published  in  1749,  do  not  seem  to  have  possessed  any 
great  educational  value,  and,  according  to  a  contempo- 
rary author,  '  were  amicably  concluded  with  a  magnifi- 
cent and  expensive  supper,  the  charges  of  which  for- 
merly came  to  lOOL,  but  of  late  years  much  retrenched.' 
Such  logical  encounters  w^ere  clearly  mere  survivals  or 
revivals  of  mediceval  dialectics,  but  there  is  some  reason 
to  believe  that  sounder  and  more  useful  knowledge  was 
quietly  cultivated,  and  rewarded  by  fellowships,  though 
not  yet  recognised  by  University  honours.  When  John 
Wesley  was  elected  a  fellow  of  Lincoln,  in  1726,  dis- 
putations were  held  six  times  a  week,  as  at  Merton,  but 
he  formed  his  own  scheme  of  studies.  He  allotted 
]\[ondays  and  Tuesdays  to  classics;  Wednesdays  to 
logic  and  ethics;  Thursdays  to  Hebrew  and  Arabic; 
Fridays  to  metaphysics  and  natural  philosophy  ;  Satur- 
days to  rhetoric,  poetry,  and  composition ;  Sundays  to 
divinity;  besides  which,  he  bestowed  much  attention 
on  mathematics.  Doubtless,  John  Wesley  >vas  no  com- 
mon man,  but  he  was  never  regarded  as  a  prodigy  of 
learning  by  his  fellows,  and  it  was  the  deliberate  opinion 
of  Johnson,  in  the  next  generation,  that  college  tuition 
was  not  the  farce  which  Gibbon  imagined  it.  Speaking 
of  Oxford  in  17(38,  Dr.  Johnson  said:  'There  is  here, 
sir,  such  a  progressive  emulation.     The    students  are 


iS2  The  University  of  Oxford 

anxious  to  appear  well  to  tlieir  tutors ;  tlie  tutors  are 
anxious  to  have  their  pupils  appear  well  in  the  college  ; 
the  colleges  are  anxious  to  have  their  students  appear 
well  in  the  University ;  and  there  are  excellent  rules  of 
discipline  in  every  college.'     Sir  William  Jones,  who 
obtained  a  scholarship  at  University  College  in  1764, 
and  a  fellowship  two  years  later,  found  means  to  pro- 
Becute  his  Oriental  researches  there,  and  mapped  out  his 
own  time,  like  Wesley,  between  different  branches  of 
study.     By  the  statutes  of  Hertford  College,  framed  in 
1747,  undergraduates  were  required  to  produce  a  de- 
clamation, theme,  or  translation  every  week,  composing 
it  in  English  during  their  second  and  third  years,  and 
in  Latin  during  their  fourth.     Nor  were  fellowship-ex- 
aminations by  any  means  an  unmeaning  form  in  good 
colleges.     Those  at  All  Souls'  had  long  been  a  real  test 
of  intellectual  merit,    though    motives  of  favouritism 
sometimes  governed  the    choice    of  the    electors.     At 
Merton,   in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
vve  read  of  fellowship-elections  being    preceded    by    a 
thorough   examination,  including   two    days    of  book- 
work    in    Homer,    Xenophon,    Lucian,     Tacitus,     and 
Horace,  besides  a  '  theme,'  doubtless  in  Latin.     When 
we  find  that  some   two  hundred   and  fifty  editions  of 
classical  works,  mostly,  but  not  wholly,  in  the  ancient 
languages,  were  published  in  Oxford  during  the  first 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  it  is  hardly  possible  to 
doubt  that  many  industrious  readers  must  have  existed 
among  the  students  and   fellows  of  colleges,  however 
imperfect  may  have  been  the  organisation  of  lectures. 
Dr.  Charlett,  the  eminent  Master  of  University  College, 
writing  in  1715,  was  able  to  praise  the  youths  under 


Studies  in  the  Eighteenth  Century     183 

his  own  charge  as  '  sober,  modest,  and  studious,'  nor  is 
there  any  reason  to  doubt  that  many  students  in  other 
colleges  deserved  a  like  character.  Degenerate  as  it 
was,  and  far  inferior  to  Cambridge  in  the  performance 
of  its  higher  functions,  the  University  was  not  so  iitt-rly 
effete  as  it  is  sometimes  represented.  It  produced  few 
great  scholars  and  fewer  great  teachers,  but  it  was  not 
whoUv  unfaithful  to  its  mission  of  educating  the  Eno-- 
lish  clergy  and  gentry,  and  the  great  philosopher 
Berkele}^,  who  had  described  it  as  an  ideal  retreat  for 
learning  and  piety,  deliberately  chose  it  as  his  final 
home  and  resting-place. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

THE   UNIVERSITY   DURING   THE   REIGNS   OF   GEORGE  IH. 

AND    GEORGE  IV. 

We  may  pass  lightly  over  the  history  of  the  University 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  centur}^,  when 
sta^iation  ^^^  external  and  internal  life  were  equally 
s/ty  fegi^a-  barren  of  memorable  events.  Only  eight  sta- 
eighteeutu  ^utes  had  been  enacted  by  Convocation  between 
ceutury  IG06  and  1759;  nor  was  the  succeeding 
period  more  prolific  of  reforms.  The  legislative  energy 
of  the  University  was  confined  for  the  most  part  to 
amendments  of  mere  administrative  details,  and  it  was 
even  suggested  that  such  trifling  measures  were  beyond 
its  powers.  In  the  year  1759,  the  right  of  the  Univer- 
sitv  to  abrof^ate  anv  of  the  Laudiau  statutes  without  the 
consent  of  the  Crown  was  challenged  by  the  proctors. 


1 84  ^  The  University,  of  Oxford 

The  objection,  liowever,  was  overruled,  and  the  principle 
was  established  that,  whereas  it  was  not  competent 
for  the  University  to  make  any  statutes  as  immutable 
as  the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  it  could  not 
delegate  any  such  power  to  the  King  himself,  so  that 
au}^  statute  made  under  royal  sanction  was  subject  to 
lepeal,  like  ordinary  bye-laws.  In  1770,  a  new  statute 
was  passed  for  the  regulation  of  academical  habits, 
which  provoked  a  long  controversy,  and  incidentally 
established  the  principle,  applicable  to  more  important 
subjects,  that  no  individual  Head  of  a  college,  nor  even 
all  the  Heads  of  colleges  together,  could  dispense  with 
statutable  rules,  independently  of  Convocation. 

Meanwhile,  a  considerable  number  of  Acts  were 
passed  by  Parliament  conOrming  or  enlarging  the  privi- 
r  tntes  fe^ies  of  the  University.  For  instance,  in 
•univcraty  1  /  74,  the  Uuivcrsities  of  England  and  Scot- 
land were  empowered  by  special  enactment  to  hold  in 
2ot^;petuity  their  exclusive  right  of  printing  books,  the 
copyright  of  which  should  have  been  vested  in  them  by 
the  authors.  Other  Acts  gTcinted  colleges  special  ex- 
emptions from  the  land  tax  in  respect  of  their  build- 
ings, and  from  legacy  duty  in  respect  of  collections  and 
other  specific  articles  bequeathed  to  them.  Resident 
n  embers  of  the  University  were  further  exempted  from 
serViCe  in  the  Militia,  and  the  stringent  Act  of  1799, 
'  for  better  preventing  treasonable  and  seditious  prac- 
t'ces,'  was  expressly  limited  so  as  not  to  curtail  the 
freedom  of  University  lectures  or  the  University  press. 

In  1793,  the  installation  of  the  Duke  of  Portland  as 
Buccefcsor  to  Lord  North  in  the  chancellorship  was  sig- 
nalised by  festivities   on  an  unprecedented  scale,  and 


Reigns  of  George  III.  and  George  IV.     185 

a  tumultuous  struo-oje  for  admission  to  tlie  Slieldcnian 
po  iticai  Theatre  led  to  a  fray  wliicli  reflected  little  credit 
s.vmi-athies    ^^  acadcmical  manners.     The  hero  of  the  day, 

ot  the  Uui- 

^heSreak  ^^^  favourite  of  the  gownsmen,  was  Edmund 
?5^''°,  T>      Burke,  whose  son  received  an  honorary  D.C.L. 

ireuoh  lie-  '  "^  . 

volution        degree,  but  who  is  said  to  have  declined   it 
for  himself  on  the  ground  that,   in  1790,  the  Heads 
of  Houses   had   negatived   a   requisition   from    forty- 
nine  Masters  of  Arts  proposing  that  a  D.C.L.  degree 
should  be  conferred  on  him  '  by  diploma.'    The  political 
sympathies  of  the   University  were,  in  fact,  strongly 
called  forth  on  behalf  of  the  Royalist  cause  in  France, 
and  a  large  subscription  was  raised  in  1792  for  the 
relief  of  the  French  refugees,  especially  Catholic  priests, 
three  of  whom    settled   at    Oxford.     In    1794    nearly 
2,500Z.  was  contributed  for  purposes  of  national  defence 
by  the  resident  body  of  graduates,  including  a  grant  of 
200/.  from  the  University  chest.     In  1798,  a  further 
contribution  of  4,000L  '  in  aid  of  the  revenue  of  the 
country '  was  sent  to  the  government  from  the  Univer- 
sity and  colleges  of  Oxford,  while  an  University  volun- 
teer corps,  mustering   about   five    hundred   men,  was 
formed  and  drilled,  as  in  the  days  of  the  Civil  War. 
This  martial  ardour,  and  the  drain  of  students  into  the 
army,  doubtless  contributed  to  increase  the  depression 
of  academical  studies  which  preceded  and  rendered  ne- 
cessary the  '  new  examination  statutes"  of  1800.     But 
academical  studies  must  also   have    suffered  from  the 
prevailing  distress  which  marked  the  winter  of  1799, 
when  bread-riots  took  place  in  Oxford,  and  large  sub- 
scriptions were  raised  in  the  University  for  the  relief  of 
the  poor  townspeople. 

'Ot  Tl 

((•giriVBBsiTYj: 


iSC  The  University  of  Oxford 

Notwithstanding  the  decline  of  academical  vigour 
during  the  eighteenth  century,  both  the  professorial 
Accessions  Staff  and  the  public  buildings  of  the  Universily 
iateiuthe  recoived  a  considerable  extension.  In  1703 
ceutury  the  Professoishlp  of  Poetry  was  founded  out 
of  funds  bequeathed  for  the  purpose  by  Henry  Birk- 
head.  In  1724  the  Regius  Professorship  of  Modern 
History  was  established  by  George  I.  In  1728  the 
Professorship  of  Botany,  then  in  a  state  of  suspended 
animation,  was  re-endowed  out  of  the  munificent 
bequest  of  William  Sherard.  In  1749  the  first  Professfr 
of  Experimental  Philosophy  was  appointed,  with  a 
salary  of  30/.,  out  of  the  Crewe  benefaction.  In  1758 
the  bequest  of  Charles  Viner  took  effect  by  the  election 
of  William  Blackstone  to  the  new  Vinerian  Professor- 
ship of  Common  Law.  In  1780  the  Clinical  Professor- 
ship was  founded  in  connection  with  the  Padcliffe 
Infirmary.  In  1795  the  Professorship  of  Anglo-Saxon 
was  constituted,  forty  years  after  the  death  of  its 
founder.  Dr.  Rawlinson,  the  famous  antiquary,  and  in 
1798  George  Aldrich,  formerlj^  of  Merton  College, 
bequeathed  property  for  the  endowment  of  Professorships 
in  Anatomy,  Medicine,  and  Chemistry. 

Meanwhile  the  mediaeval  aspect  of  Oxford  was  modi- 
fied by  m.any  new  architectural  features.  Early  in  the 
Arcbitec-  ccntur}'  additional  buildings  sprang  up  in 
provenJe'nts  Magdalen,  Corpus,  Queen's,  and  Oriel.  To 
the  same  age  belong  the  Codrington  Library  at  All 
Souls',  with  the  new  Library  and  Peckwater  Quadrangle 
at  Christchurch,  and  other  college  buildings.  In  1713 
the  Clarendon  Building  was  opened  to  receive  the 
University  Press.     Books  had  been  printed  in  Oxford 


Reigns  of  George  III.  and  George  IV,     187 

since  1468,  when  Caxton's  invention   was  still   on  its 
trial,  but  Delegates  of  the  Press  were  not  appointed 
until  158G,  and  the  University  privilege  of  printing 
dates  from  the  patent  granted  in   1633,  at  the  instance 
of  Archbishop  Laud.     After  1669  the  University  Press 
was  set  up  and  worked  in  the  Sheldonian  Theatre,  but 
the  copyright  of  Clarendon's  '  History  of  the  Rebellion ' 
having  been  presented   to  the  University,  the  profits 
were  applied  towards  the  cost  of  erecting  the  fine  edifice 
known   as    the  'Clarendon  Press'  for  118   years,     i. 
still  more  important-  benefaction  was  that  of  the  cele  • 
brated  Dr.  Radcliffe,  who  died  in  1714,  leaving  a  large 
sum  of  money  to  be  accumulated  for  the  foundation  of  a 
Medical  Library,  an  Infirmary,  and  an  Observatory.    The 
first  stone  of  the  library  was  laid  in  1737,  all  the  houses 
in  '  Cat  Street,'  north  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  having  been 
demolished  to  make  room  for  it.     It  was  opened  for  the 
use  of  students  on  April  13,  1749,  after  a  'two  days' 
solemnity,'  including  a  Public  Act,  and  a  concert  man- 
aged by    Handel,  whose  oratorios  had   been    received 
with  great  applause  at  Oxford  six  years   earlier,  and 
whose    '  Sampson '    was    performed  in  the  Sheldonian 
Theatre    on    the    following    day.     The   Infirmary    and 
Observatory  were  completed  in  1770  and  1795  respec- 
tively, but  are  not  under    University   control,  though 
closely  associated  with  University    studies.     In   1788 
Sir    Robert    Taylor,  an    architect  t>f  some    eminence, 
bequeathed  a  large   sum  to  found  a  building  for  the 
cultivation  of  '  the  European  languages,'  but  this  be- 
quest  did  not  take  full  effect  until   1848,   when    the 
present  '  Taylor  Institution  '  was  opened.     Meanwhile, 
in  1771,  an  Act  of  Parliament  had  been  passed  enabling 


1 88  The  University  of  Oxford 

the  City  to  rebuild  Magdalen  Bridge,  and  take  down 
the  east  and  north  gates,  the  south  and  west  gates 
having  been  already  demolished.  By  these  alterations 
the  conversion  of  Oxford  into  an  University  town  was 
finally  consummated,  and  few  of  its  inhabitants  now 
realise  that  it  was  once  a  fortified  city  sheltering  a 
cluster  of  poor  schools  and  halls  not  yet  aspiring  to  the 
dignity  of  colleges. 

The  general  history  of  the  University  in  the  present 
century  may  be  divided  into  two  periods :  the  first  ter- 
Effectsof      minated  by  the  Reform  Act  of  18-32,  and  the 

the  Prench  "^     .         .  .  .         ' 

war  upon       OTcat   ccclesiastical    reaction   which   followed 

the  Univei'- 

sity.  oppo-   upon  it;  the  second  embracinp-the  last  two  or 

sition  to  .     .  "      , 

reforms  three  ycars  of  William  IV. 's  reign,  and  the 
whole  reign  of  Queen  Victoria.  The  new  Examination 
Statute  of  1800,  and  the  subsequent  introduction  of  the 
class  system,^  were  the  only  events  of  any  academical 
importance  in  the  earlier  of  these  periods,  and  nothing 
occurred  to  disturb  the  repose  of  the  Universit}^ 
during  the  last  twenty  years  of  George  III.'s  reign,  or 
the  ten  years'  reign  of  George  IV.  The  domestic 
records  of  this  interval  are  meagre  and  trivial  in  the 
extreme  When  the  Peace  of  Amiens  was  proclaimed 
in  1802,  there  seems  to  have  been  a  short-lived  revival 
of  educational  vigour  at  Oxford ;  when  the  war  broke  out 
afresh  in  1803  volunteers  were  again  enrolled  from  the 
University,  and  Oxford  studies  again  began  to  languish. 
In  1805  these  were  vigorously  attacked  by  Sydney 
Smith  in  the  '  Edinburgh  Review,'  and  vigorously 
defended  by  Mr.  Copleston,  afterwards  Provost  of  Oriel, 
himself  among  the  foremost  of  University  reformers. 

»  See  Chapter  XVII. 


Reigns  of  George  III.  and  George  IV.     1S9 

While  the  country  was  engaged  in  its  desperate  struggle 
with  Napoleon,  the  '  class  system '  was  being  quietly 
introduced,  and  supplying  a  new  incentive  to  industry. 
The  political  animosities  which  had  agitated  the  Uni- 
versity in  the  last  century  had  completely  died  out,  but 
it  is  certain  that  Oxford  was  profoundly  affected  by  the 
anti-Jacobin  panic  which  set  in  after  the  French  Eevo- 
lution  and  lasted  for  a  whole  generation.     It  is,  how- 
ever,  some  proof  of  a  latent  inclination  to  moderate 
Liberalism  among  Oxford  graduates  that  in  1809  Lord 
Grenville  was  elected  Chancellor  after  a  contest  with 
Lord  Eldon.     On  the  other  hand,  the  sympathies  of  the 
University  on  all   '  Church  and  State '  questions  were 
identical  with  those    of   George  III.     So  far  back  as 
1810  a  petition  was  presented  against  Catholic  Emanci- 
pation, and  when  Robert  Peel  was  elected  member  for 
the  University  in  1817,  it  was  fully  understood  that  he 
was  to  oppose  the  Catholic  Claims.     In  1829,  the  Uni- 
versity Convocation  reaffirmed  its  reprobation  of  these 
claims  by  a  solemn  vote.    Peel  resigned  his  seat,  and 
upon  a  new  election  was  defeated  by  Sir  Robert  Inglis. 
In  a  like  spirit  the  University  petitioned  in  1831  against 
Parliamentary  Reform,  in  1833  against  the  Irish  Church 
Temporalities  Bill,  and  in  1834,  with  only  one  dissen- 
tient, against  the  grant  of  a  charter  to  the  new  London 
University.     No  doubt,  in  this  last  case  the  instinctive 
hostility  of  Churchmen  to  a  non-religious   academical 
body  was  quickened  by  a  less  honourable  jealousy  of  a 
rival  institution  to  be  invested  with  the  power  of  grant- 
ing degrees.     In  spite  of  the  Oxford  protest,  the  charter 
was  granted  at  the  close  of  183G,  and  in  the  following 
year  a  similar    privilege  was  conferred  upon  Durham 
University. 


1 90  The  University  of  Oxford 

Two  other  incidents  in  University  life  during  this 
somewhat  obscure  period  deserve  a  passing  notice.  In 
T>      ..     *  1814  Oxford  was  enlivened  by  the  famous  visit 

Beceptioncf  J 

the  Allied      Qf  \}^Q  Allied  Sovereio^ns,  when  Blucher  was 

fcovereigns.  o       ' 

fhe^Mi'^oVs  received  with  enthusiastic  plaudits  in  the  Shel- 
<^-*^  donian  Theatre.     Had  the  loyalty  of  the  Uni- 

versity been  doubtful,  the  Prince  Eegent  must  have  been 
reassured  by  the  fervent  display  of  it  on  this  occasion ;  but 
these  royal  visits  had  lost  their  significance  when  the 
adhesion  of  Oxford  ceased  to  be  a  factor  in  Imperial 
politics,  and  the  subsequent  receptions  of  Queen  Adelaide 
and  Queen  Victoria,  though  almost  as  hearty  as  that  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  were  tributes  of  respectful  homage 
and  not  of  political  devotion.  In  1825  the  mayor  and 
bailiffs  of  Oxford  were  released  by  a  document  under 
the  University  seal  from  the  penance  laid  upon  them 
after  the  great  riot  on  Scholastica's  Day  in  1354,  when 
they  were  required,  as  we  have  seen,  to  attend  St. 
Mary's  Church  yearly  with  sixty  leading  citizens,  to 
celebrate  a  mass  for  the  souls  of  the  murdered  scholars, 
and  to  offer  one  penny  each  at  the  altar.  No  sooner 
i^as  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass  forbidden  in  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth  than  the  citizens  hastened  to  give  up  this 
annual  appearance,  but  were  compelled  to  resume  it  by 
an  Order  of  Council,  a  litany  being  substituted  for  the 
mass.  The  whole  ceremonv  was  now  abolished  :  but 
another  grievance  of  earlier  origin  still  remained,  and 
was  not  finally  removed  until  the  year  1859.  By  the 
letters  patent  of  Henry  III.,  already  mentioned,  dated 
1248,  the  mayor  and  bailiffs,  on  taking  office,  were 
directed  to  swear  that  they  would  keep  '  the  liberties 
and  customs  of  the  University,'  the  Chancellor  having 


RE/oys  OF  George  III.  and  George  IV.    191 

been  pieviously  informed,  in  order  tliat  he  might  witness 
the  oath  personally  or  by  a  deputy.     This  obligation, 
though  it  may  have  been  sometimes  evaded,  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  disputed  for  more  than  six  centarLes. 
In  1855,  however,  the  mayor  and  corporation  requested 
the  University  to  dispense  with  the  oath.     The  Uni- 
versity at  first  demurred,  but  after  friendly  conferences 
gave  its  sanction  to  a  Bill  for  abolishing  the  oath,  upon 
condition,  however,  of  its  being  once  more  taken  by  the 
mavor  and  sheriff  for  the  last  time.     In  1859  this  Bill, 
introduced  at  the  instance  of  the  City,  but  with  the  con- 
currence of  the  University,  was  passed  into  law,  and  the 
standing  feud  so  long  maintained  between  these  ancient 
corporations  was  thus  brought  to  an  amicable  conclu- 
sion.    The  harmony  which  has  since  prevailed  between 
the  authorities  of  the  University  and  the  City  may  have 
been  partly  due  to   other  causes,  but  it  has  certainly 
been  promoted  by  the  disuse  of  a  humiliating  formality, 
well    calculated   to    revive   the    memory    of  barbarous 
violence  on  one  side  and  invidious  pretensions  on  the 
other. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

OXFORD  STUDIES  AND    EXAMINATIONS   IN  THE   NINETEENTH 

CENTURY. 

«The  studies  of  the  University  were  first  raised  from 
their  abject  state  by  a  statute  passed  in  1800.'  Such 
is  the  testimony  of  the  Oxford  University  Commissioners 
appointed  in  1850,  and  it  is  amply  confirmed  by 
University  records.    The  Laudian  system  was  doomed  to 


192  The  University  of  Oxford 

failure  from  the  first,  inasmucli  as  it  provided  no  security 
Evfiniination  for  tlie  capacitv  of  examiiicrs  or  ao-ainst  their 

statute  of  .  -11  T  T  1  -1        1 

180.1  and        colinsion  With  tuo  Candidates,  while  these  were 

later  .  .  .         . 

amendments  animated  bv  little  fear  of  i^ejection  and  no 
hope  whatever  of  distincti*^.  The  statute  of  1800,  for 
which  the  credit  is  mainly  due  to  Dr.  Eveleigh,  then 
Pr3vost  of  Oriel,  was  directed  to  cure  these  defects. 
That  ifc  was  regarded  as  a  vigorous  attempt  to  raise  the 
standard  of  degree  examinations  is  pi'oved  by  the  fact 
that  in  1801,  the  last  year  of  the  '  old  system,'*  the  number 
of  B.A.  degrees  suddenly  rose  to  250,  largely  exceeding 
the  average  of  degrees  and  even  of  matriculations  in 
several  preceding  years.  The  new  statute  was  deli- 
berately based  on  the  Laudian  system,  in  so  far  as  it 
presupposed  an  inherent  supremacy  in  the  fiiculty  of 
Arts,  and  it  was  unconsciously  based  on  the  old 
mediaeval  curriculum  of  Trivials  and  Quadrivials,  in  so 
far  as  it  specified  grammar,  rhetoric,  logic,  moral 
philosophy,  and  the  elements  of  mathematics — with  the 
important  addition  of  Latin  and  Greek  literature — as 
the  essential  subjects  of  examination.  But  it  effected  a 
grand  reform  in  the  method  of  examination.  Candi- 
dates were  to  offer  themselves  either  for  what  has  since 
been  known  as  a  '  pass,'  or  for  Honours,  and  the  Honour- 
list  was  to  be  divided  into  two  classes,  in  which  the 
names  were  to  be  arranged  in  order  of  merit.  There  was 
also  to  be  a  further  examination  for  the  M.A.  degree, 
comprising  higher  mathematical  subjects,  history,  and 
Hebrew ;  w^hile  candidates  for  the  B.C.L.  degree  were 
to  be  examined  in  history  and  jurisprudence,  besides 
the  subjects  required  for  the  B.A.  degree.  Moreover, 
the  examiners  w^ere  thenceforth  to  be  paid  by  salary, 
and  chosen  by  responsible  officers  to  serve  for  consider- 


New  Examination  Statutes  193 

able  periods.  They  were  solemnly  charged  to  deli- 
berate maturely  and  secretly  on  the  merits  of  the 
candidates,  sepositis  omnino  amicitid  et  odio,  timore 
ac  spe.  Material  changes  were  introduced  into  this 
system  by  statutes  of  1807,  modified  again  in  1809, 
1825,  1826,  and  1830.  The  general  effect  of  these 
changes  was  to  substitute,  in  the  main,  written  papers 
for  oral  questions,  to  establish  two  stated  times  in 
the  vear  for  examination,  to  subdivide  the  list  of 
honours  into  three  classes,  to  relegate  mathematics  to  a 
'  School '  bv  itself,  to  abrogate  the  examination  for  the 
M.A.  degree,  and  to  make  the  Greek  and  Latin  lan- 
guages, philosophy,  and  history,  the  staple  of  examina- 
tion in  what  now  came  to  be  called  the  Liter ce  Humaniores 
School,  though  permission  was  given  to  illustrate  the 
ancient  by  modern  authors.  Meanwhile,  the  old 
scholastic  exercise  of  Responsions  in  Parviso  was  re- 
placed by  an  elementary  examination,  bearing  the  same 
name,  to  be  passed  in  the  second  year. 

Such  was  the  Oxford  exaniination-sj'stem  when  it 
was  transformed  afresh  in  1850,  by  a  statute  which  has 
Examination  bccu   amended  and  extended  by  many  sup- 

St.ltute  of  T  ,  A       ,    1^.  -r^      1    1  .  -r^ 

isouaud  plemencary  measures.  A'lurst  Public  ihx- 
amendments  amiuatiou,'  popularly  kuowu  as 'Moderations,' 
was  interposed  between  Responsions  and  the  final 
examination  for  the  B.A.  degree,  thenceforth  oflScially 
designated  the  '•  Second  Public  Examination.'  This 
intermediate  examination,  in  which  honours  are  awarded, 
was  specially  designed  to  encourage  and  test  a  scholar- 
like knowledge  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages, 
ancient  history,  philosophy,  and  logic  being  mainly 
reserved  for  the  Final  Classical,  or  Literct  Humaniores, 

o 


194  The  University  of  Oxford 

Scliool.  Tlie  Honour  Scliool  of  Matliematics  was  re- 
tained, and  two  new  Scliools  were  established,  the  one 
for  Natural  Science,  the  other  for  Law  and  Modern 
History.  This  last  School  was  afterwards  divided  into 
two  schools,  of  Jurisprudence  and  of  Modern  History, 
respectively,  while  a  sixth  Honour  School  was  added  for 
Theology.  Until  the  year  1883,  two  examinations  were 
held  annually  in  each  of  the  six  Honou.r  Schools,  but  in 
and  since  that  year  one  only  has  been  held,  and  that  in 
Trinitv  Term.  Two  examinations,  however,  continued 
to  be  held  annually  for  candidates  seeking  an  ordinary 
degree,  and  these '  pass  examinations' were  subdivided  into 
several  branches,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  tolerable 
degree  of  proficiency  in  more  than  one  subject  of  study. 
The  important  examination  statutes  of  1850  were  in 

•  contemplation,  but  not  yet  in  operation,  when  a  Royal 
University     Commissiou  was  issucd,  on  August  31,  in  that 

■  Commission  -:  n        i  i  n    •  •    •  •     -        i  i 

.  of  1850  year,   '  lor  the  purpose  oi  inquiring  into  the 

■state,  discipline,  studies,  and  revenues  '  of  the  University 

•  and  colleges.  The  report  of  this  Commission  is  the  most 
comprehensive  review  of  the  whole  University  system 
which  has  ever  been  published.  It  recommended 
various  important  reforms,  of  which  some  were  effected 
by  an  Act  of  Parliament  enacted  in  1854,  and  others 
through  Ordinances  framed  by  executive  commissioners, 
therein  appointed,  for  the  several  colleges.    In  1850,  the 

.sole  initiative  power  in  University  legislation,  and  by  far 
the  largest  share  of  University  administration,  was  stiil 
vested  in  the  '  Hebdomadal  Board,'  consisting  solely  of 
heads  of  colleges  with  the  two  proctors,  and  described 
iby  no  unfriendly  critic  of  Oxford  institutions  as  '  an 
organised    torpor.'      The    assembly    of    resident   and 


New  Examination  Statutes  195 

*  regent '  Masters  of  Arts,  known  as  the  '  House  of  Con- 
gregation,' still  existed  for  the  purpose  of  granting 
degrees,  but  its  other  business  had  dwindled  to  mere 
formaliLies.  The  University  Convocation  included,  as 
ever,  all  Masters  of  Arts,  resident  or  non-resident,  and 
had  the  right  of  debating,  but  this  right  was  virtually 
annulled  by  the  necessity  of  speaking  in  Latin — all  but 
a  lost  art—  and  Convocation  could  only  accept  or  reject 
without  amendment  measures  proposed  by  the  Hebdo- 
madal Board.  No  student  could  be  a  member  of  the 
University  without  belonging  to  a  college  or  hall,  while 
every  member  of  a  college  or  hall  was  compelled  to  sleep 
within  its  walls,  until  after  his  third  year  of  residence. 
Persons  unable  to  sign  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  were 
absolutely  excluded,  not  merely  from  degrees,  but  from 
all  access  to  the  University,  inasmuch  as  the  test  of 
subscription  was  enforced  at  matriculation.  Neverthe- 
less, college  fellowships  were  further  protected  against 
the  intrusion  of  dissenters  by  the  declaration  of  con- 
formity to  the  liturgy  required  to  be  made  under  the 
Act  of  Uniformity.  If  professorial  lectures  were  not 
nt  so  low  an  ebb  as  in  the  days  of  Gibbon,  they  were 
lamentably  scarce  and  ineffective.  The  educational 
function  of  the  University  had,  in  fact,  been  almost 
wholly  merged  in  college  tuition,  but  the  scholarships, 
as  well  as  the  fellowships,  of  the  colleges  were  fettered 
by  all  manner  of  restrictions,  which  marred  their  value 
as  incentives  to  industry.  The  great  majority  of  fel- 
lows were  bound  to  take  Holy  Orders,  and  the  whole 
University  was  dominated  by  a  clerical  spirit,  which 
directly  tended  to  make  it,  as  it  had  so  long  been,  a 
focus  of  theological  controversy. 

o  2 


196  The  University  of  Oxford 

Tliougli  several  of  tlie  wise  and  liberal  measures 
recommended  by  the  Commission  of  1850  were  post- 
poned to  a  more  convenient  season,  a  profound  and  most 
beneficial  reform  was  wrought  in  the  whole  spirit  and 
Act  of  1854  working  of  the  University  system  by  the  Act 
coi'ie'iT  <^f  1854,  and  the  College  Ordinances  framed 
ordimmces  ^^^^^^  |^g  provisious.  The  Hebdomadal  Board 
was  replaced  by  an  elective  Council,  on  which  Heads  of 
colleges,  professors,  and  resident  Masters  of  Arts  were 
equally  represented.  A  new  ' Congregation'  was  created, 
embracing  all  resident  members  of  Convocation,  and 
soon  became  a  vigorous  deliberative  assembly,  with  the 
right  of  speaking  in  English.  The  monopoly  of  colleges 
was  broken  down,  and  an  opening  made  for  ulterior 
extension  by  the  revival  of  private  halls.  The  profes- 
soriate was  considerably  increased,  reorganised,  and 
re-endowed,  by  means  of  contributions  from  colleges. 
The  colleges  were  emancipated  from  their  medieval 
statutes,  w^ere  invested  with  new  constitutions,  and 
acquired  new  legislative  powers.  The  fellowships  were 
almost  universally  thrown  open  to  merit,  and  the  effect 
of  this  was  not  merely  to  provide  ample  rewards  for  the 
highest  academical  attainments,  but  to  place  the  govern- 
ing power  within  colleges  in  the  hands  of  able  men, 
likely  to  promote  further  improvements.  The  number 
and  value  of  scholarships  was  largely  augmented,  and 
many,  though  not  all,  of  the  restrictions  upon  them 
were  abolished.  The  great  mass  of  vexatious  and  obso- 
lete oaths  was  swept  away,  and  though  candidates  for 
the  M.A.  degree  and  persons  elected  to  fellowships  were 
still  required  to  make  the  old  subscriptions  and  declara- 
tions, it  was  enacted  that  no  religious  tesfc  should  be 


New  Examination  Statutes  197 

imposed  at  matriculation,  or  on  taking  a  baclielor's 
degree.  Tlie  University  itself  had  supplemented  the 
extension  of  its  curriculum  and  examination  system  by 
the  foundation  of  a  new  museum  specially  consecrated 
to  natural  science.  The  permanence  of  this  extension 
was,  however,  additionally  secured  by  a  clause  intro- 
duced into  the  College  Ordinances,  whereby  it  was 
directed  that  fellowships  should  be  appropriated,  from 
time  to  time,  for  the  encouragement  of  all  the  studies 
recognised  by  the  University. 

Other  salutary  changes  naturally  grew  out  of  this 
comprehensive  reform,  and  far  greater  progress  was 
Effect  of  made  by  the  University  during  the  thirty 
^xitm^'  years  immediately  following  it  than  in  any 
previous  century  of  its  history.  The  impulse  given  to 
education  reacted  upon  learning  and  research ;  Oxford 
science  began  once  more  to  command  the  respect  of 
Europe;  the  professoriate  received  an  accession  of  illus- 
trious names  ;  and  college  tuition,  instead  of  being 
the  mere  temporary  vocation  of  fellows  waiting  for 
livings,  gradually  placed  itself  on  the  footing  of  a  regular 
profession .  In  stead  of  drying  up  the  bounty  of  founders, 
as  had  been  confidently  predicted,  the  reforms  of  1854 
apparently  caused  the  stream  of  benefactions  to  flow 
with  renewed  abundance.  Nearly  all  the  older  colleges 
have  extended  their  buildings,  mostly  by  the  aid  of 
private  munificence,  a  new  college  has  been  erected,  bear- 
ing the  name  of  the  Rev.  John  Keble,  and  Magdalen  Hall 
has  been  refounded,  under  its  original  name  of  Hertford 
College,  with  a  large  new  endowment,  provided  by  Islv. 
C.  Baring.  Meanwhile,  a  new  class  of  '  unattached '  or 
'  non-collco-iate'  students  has  been  created,  the  number  of 


19S  The  University  of  Oxford 

which  rose  to  284  in  the  year  1880,  though  it  has  since 
manifested  a  tendency  to  fall.  The  a^-gregate  strength 
of  the  University  has  been  doubled  within  the  same 
period  of  thirty-two  years,  and  the  net  total  of  under- 
graduates in  residence  has  been  swelled  from  about  1,300 
to  upwards  of  2,500,  and  the  annual  matriculations 
have  increased  in  a  like  proportion. 

The  relaxation  of  the  ^  classical  monopoly  '  and  the 
opening  of  scholarships  was  supplemented,  in  1871,  by 
Abolition  of   a  still  more  important  reform — the  complete 

University  ,    ,  •  •         m 

Tests  abolition  of  University  Tests,  already  reduced 

by  the  Act  of  1854.  This  great  concession  to  religious 
liberty  was  brought  about  by  a  persistent  movement 
chiefly  emanating  from  the  Universities  themselves. 
In  the  year  1862  a  petition  was  presented  from  74 
resident  fellows  of  colleges  at  Cambridge,  praying  for 
a  repeal  of  the  clause  applicable  to  fellowships  in  the 
Act  of  Uniformity.  In  the  year  1863,  a  petition 
was  presented  from  106  Heads,  professors,  fellows, 
ex-fellows,  and  college  tutors  at  Oxford,  praying  for 
the  removal  of  all  theological  restrictions  on  degrees. 
In  the  year  1868,  a  petition  against  all  religious  tests, 
except  for  degrees  in  theology,  was  signed  by  80  Heads, 
professors,  lecturers,  and  resident  fellows  at  Oxford,  while 
a  similar  petition  was  signed  by  123  non-resident 
fellows  and  ex-fellows.  In  the  same  year  a  petition  to 
the  same  effect  was  signed  by  227  heads  and  present  or 
former  office-holders  and  fellows  of  Cambridge.  Sepa- 
rate petitions,  specially  directed  against  the  declaration 
of  conformity,  were  presented  by  Trinity  and  Christ's 
Colleges  at  Cambridge.  Supported  by  the  whole  Non- 
conformist body  and  by  the  Liberal  party  in  Parliament, 


New  Examination  Statutes  199 

these  efforts  were  ultimately  successfu].  The  contest  in 
Parliament  lasted  no  less  than  nine  years,  and  one  Bill 
after  another  was  defeated  or  withdrawn,  but  in  1871 
the  abolition  of  University  Tests  was  adopted  as  a 
government  measure  and  accepted  by  the  House  of 
Lords.  Experience  has  not  justified  the  fears  of  its 
opponents,  and  neither  the  religious  character  nor  the 
social  peace  of  the  University  has  been  in  the  slightest 
degree  impaired  by  the  admission  of  Nonconformists  to 
its  degrees  and  endowments. 

But  the  impulse  given  to  academical  education  by 
the  legislation  of  1854  is  not  to  be  measured  solely  by 
Local  ex-  ^^  internal  growth  of  the  University^  now 
and"bml?d^'  acccssible  to  every  class  in  the  nation.  Since 
uou'oTpubiic  *^^*  period  it  has  initiated  and  carried  out 
schools  ^^yQ  educational  movements  of  national  import- 
ance, the  one  in  concert,  the  other  in  fiiendly  rivalry, 
with  the  University  of  Cambridge.  The  first  of  these 
was  the  scheme  of  local  examinations  for  pupils  of 
middle-class  schools,  established  by  a  statute  passed  at 
Oxford  in  1857,  afterwards  adopted  by  Cambridge,  and 
now  exercising  a  regulative  influence  on  middle-class 
education  throughout  England.  The  examination  of 
public  schools  by  a  joint-board  representing  the  two 
Universities  was  originated  in  1873,  and  was  doubtless 
facilitated  by  the  fear,  then  prevalent,  of  State-inspection 
being  applied  to  endowed  schools.  At  these  examina- 
tions certificates  are  granted,  which,  under  certain 
limitations,  carry  \vith  them  an  exemption  from  Respon- 
sions  at  Oxford,  as  well  as  from  a  part  of  the  '  previous 
examinations  '  at  Cambridge,  and  of  the  military  exami- 
nations.    Such  certificates  may  be  regarded  as  supplying 


200  The  University  of  Oxford 

tlie  rudiments  of  a  missing  link  not  only  between 
secondary  and  University  education,  but  also  between 
secondary  and  professional  education. 

In  the  meantime,  a  new  wave  of  democratic  senti- 
ment in  Parliament  impelled  Mr.  Gladstone  to  issue,  in 
Commi.^sion  J^"^n^iftiy  1872,  a  commission  to  inquire  into 
(ibrSuiid  academical  property  and  revenues,  as  a  preli- 
Actof  LS76  n^iiia.ry  step  to  further  legislation.  The  func- 
tions of  this  commission  were  strictlv  limited  to  in- 
vestigation  and  to  matters  of  finance,  no  power  beino^ 
entrusted  to  it  either  of  passing  judgment  on  the  actual 
application  of  University  and  college  funds,  or  of  sug- 
gesting a  better  application  of  them — much  less  of 
entering  on  general  questions  of  University  reform. 
These  questions  were  destined  to  be  reopened,  and  a 
fresh  appropriation  of  acadenncal  endowments  to  be 
made,  by  the  Conservative  Government  which  came  into 
office  in  the  spring  of  1874.  At  this  period  the  system 
established  by  the  Oxford  Eeform  Act  of  1854,  and  the 
executive  commission  thereby  appointed,  had  barely 
taken  root,  but  a  vigorous  agitation  was  already  in  pro- 
gress against  it,  mainly  on  the  ground  that  it  had  done 
loo  much  for  educational  competition  and  too  little  for 
learning  or  research.  The  principle  upon  which  a  fresh 
comm'ssion  was  now  demanded  was  not  so  much  the 
expediency  of  redistributing  college  revenues  for  the 
benefit  of  the  colleges  themselves,  as  the  expediency  of 
diverting  them  from  the  colleges  to  the  University, 
especially  in  the  interests  of  Natural  Science.  The 
Marquis  of  Salisbury,  as  Chancellor  of  the  University 
and  an  important  member  of  the  government,  heartily 
espoused  these  claims,  and  introduced  a  Bill  expressly 


New  Examination  Statutes  201 

designed  to  enricli  the  University  at  the  expense  of  the 

colleges. 

This  Bill  was  passed,  with   some  amendments,  m 
1877.     Its  preamble  recited  the  expediency  of  making 
^       .  .      larP-er   provision  out  of  college   revenues  for 
ofi877         University  purposes.     It  proceeded  to  institute 
an  executive  commission,  armed  with  sweeping  powers 
of  revision  and  legislation ;   but,  as  a  safeguard  for  the 
interests  of  colleges,  it  gave  each  college,  not  indeed  a 
veto  upon  the  statutes  to  be  framed,  but  a  share  m 
framing  them,  by  means  of  elected  representatives,  asso- 
ciated iiro  tempore  with  the  commissioners.     It  further 
enjoined   that   in    assessing  contributions  on  colleges, 
regard  should  first  be  had  to  the  educational   wants 
of  the  college  itself.     Accordingly,  the  commissioners 
sat  for  several  years,  and  elaborated  an  entirely  new 
code  both  for  the  University  and  for  the  colleges,  re- 
pealing all  previous  college  statutes  or  ordinances,  but 
leaving   the  legislative  constitution  of  the  University 
nntouched.     They  charged  the  colleges  with  an  aggre- 
gate subsidy  of  20,000L  and  upwards  for  the  endowment 
of  professorships  and   readerships  or  lectureships,  the 
contributions  of  wealthy  colleges  being  fixed  on  a  higher 
Bcale   than   those   of    poorer   colleges.     By   the    same 
process  they  set  ^qq  a  certain   amount  of  University 
income  for  such  objects  as  the  maintenance  of  buildings 
and  libraries.     They  regulated  the  payment,  duties,  and 
appointment  of  professors  and  readers,  as  well  as  the 
nomination  of  University  examiners,  which  had  been 
subjected  to  much  criticism.     They  made  some  approach 
towards    an    organisation    of    University   teaching,  by 
grouping  studies  roughly  under  Faculties,  and  giving 


202  The  University  of  Oxford 

*  Boards  of  Faculties '  a  certain  limited  control  over  the 
distribution  of  lectures.  They  formulated  extremely 
minute  rules  for  the  publication  of  University  and  college 
accounts.  They  remodelled  the  whole  system  of  college 
fellovrships,  attaching  tlie  greater  number  of  them  to 
University  or  college  offices,  but  retaining  about  one 
hundred  sinecure  fellowships,  terminable  in  seven 
years,  with  an  uniform  stipend  of  200/.  a  year,  and  sub- 
ject to  no  obligations  of  residence  or  celibacy.  AYith 
certain  exceptions,  they  abolished  all  clerical  restrictions 
on  fellowships  or  headships,  but  regulated  various  details 
of  college  management  and  tuition  which  the  former 
commissioners  had  left  in  the  discretion  of  each  govern- 
ing body.  They  established  an  uniform  standard  of 
age  and  value  for  college  scholarships,  requiring,  as  a 
rule,  that  no  candidate  should  have  exceeded  nineteen, 
and  that  no  scholarship  should  be  worth  more  than  80Z. 
annually.  They  also  provided  for  the  appropriation  of 
any  surplus  revenues  which  should  accrue,  to  college  or 
University  purposes. 

It  is  too  soon  to  pronounce  a  judgment  on  the  effect 
of  these  reforms,  some  of  which  have  not  yet  come  into 
Character      full  Operation,  and  which  have  been  supple- 

of  last  _   .         .  .  .  - 

reforms  meuted  by  incessant  changes  m  the  examina- 
tion statutes,  made  by  the  University  itself  Indeed, 
notwithstanding  the  bold  amendments  which  it  has 
undergone,  the  constitution  and  educational  system  of 
the  University  must  be  regarded  as  still  in  a  state  of 
transition.  It  has  ceased  to  be  a  mere  aggregate  of 
colleges,  but  it  has  not  ceased  to  be  essentially  collegiate 
in  many  parts  of  its  organisation,  and  the  dualism  of 
the   professorial    and    tutorial    systems    has   been   per- 


New  Examination  Statutes  203 

petuated.  Professorships  have  been  freely  created,  but  at- 
tendance on  their  lectures  has  not  been  made  obligatory, 
and   it   has  been  found  easier  to  provide  them  with 
salaries  out  of  college  revenues  than  to  provide  them 
with  audiences  at  the  expense  of  college  lecturers.    The 
number  of  necessary  examinations  has  been  increased,^ 
and  many  obstacles  have  been  thrown  in  the  way  of 
persistent  idleness ;  but  the  door  of  the  University  has 
not   been    closed    against   complete   ignorance   by    an 
effective  entrance  examination,  and  a  dunce  ignorant  c/; 
his  letters  may  still  matriculate  and  reside,  if  he  can 
find  a  college  to  admit  him.     The  student  is  free  U 
choose  his    Final    School,  and,   unless  he  chooses  the 
Classical  School,  he  may  abandon  Latin  and  Greek,  in 
any  case,    after   Moderations.     But    a    minimum  pro- 
ficiency in  these  languages  is  still  necessary  for   Re- 
sponsions  as  well  as  for  Moderations,  several  alternatives 
for  which  have  been  offered  with  an  utter  disregard  of 
symmetry  or  equality  between  studies.     Women  have 
been  admitted  to  certain  University  examinations,  but 
not  to  all,  nor  on  the  same  terms    as  men;  and  the 
names  of  those  who  obtain  honours  are  published  in  a 
class-list,  but    not  the    ordinary  class-list.     Religious 
equality  has  been  established  for  most  purposes,  but  not 
for  all,  and  the  Faculty  of  Theology  maintains  its  ex- 
clusive connection  not  only  with  the  Anglican  Church 
but  with  the  Anglican  clergy.,    Such  are  some  of  the 
anomalies  which  have  been  left  to  adjust  themselves  by 
successive  commissions  and  successive  groups  of  Uni- 
versity legislators.     They  have  not  proved  inconsistent 
with  a  vigorous  internal  life,  but  while  they  exist  and 
continue  to  be  multiplied,  the  University  cannot  be  said 


204  The  University  of  Oxford 

to  have  attained  a  state  of  stable  equilibrium,  nor  can  a 
poetical  unity  be  imparted  to  an  historical  narrative  of 
recent  University  reforms. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  NEO-CATHOLIC  REVIVAL,   KNOWN   AS   THE   'OXFORD 

MOVEMENT.' 

The  great  Neo-Catholic  Eevival  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury is  so  intimately  identified  with  Oxford  that  it 
Character  Came  to  be  widely  known  as  the  '  Oxford 
"ox/ord  Movement.'  It  was  less  important  than 
Methodism  in  its  purely  moral  aspect,  since  it 
was  far  less  popular  and  practical,  leaving  no  such  pro- 
found impression  upon  the  religious  life  of  the  nation. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  exercised  a  more  powerful  in- 
fluence on  Ano'lican  theoloo'v,  since  it  wore  a  more 
ficholarlike  garb,  was  more  attractive  to  cultivated  and 
nn aginative  minds,  allied  itself  with  the  speculative  and 
historical  spirit  of  the  age,  and  purported  to  be  essen- 
tially constructive  or  reconstructive.  It  had  from  the 
first  a  centre,  and  solid  base  of  operations,  in  the  Uni- 
versity, with  branches  stretching  far  and  wide,  wherever 
zealous  Churchmen  were  found.  The  assaults  of 
Methodism  upon  religious  apathy  in  high  places  had 
been  more  in  the  nature  of  guerilla  warfare ;  those  of 
*  Tractarianism,'  as  it  came  to  be  called,  assumed  the 
character  of  a  well-organised  campaign. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  aims  of  its  leaders, 


The  'Oxford  Movement?  205 

the  Oxford  ]\Iovement  was  in  truth  a  reaction,  and  its 
A  reaction  real  Origin  must  be  sought  in  political  rather 
rising'  than  in  ecclesiastical  causes.     The  question  of 

Lib^emiism  Catholic  Emancipation,  which  had  been  stifled 
at  the  Union,  was  revived  in  1812  and  fiercely  debated 
for  the  next  seventeen  years^  The  measure  was  equally 
opposed  by  the  High  and  Low^  Church  parties  in  the 
Church,  but  carried  in  1829  by  a  Tory  Government  in 
deference  to  political  exigencies.  It  was  followed  by 
the  Reform  Act,  and  in  1832  the  reformed  Parliament 
assembled,  vrith  a  large  majority,  not  merely  Ernstian^ 
but  hostile  to  the  National  Church.  The  vote  of  the 
bishops  on  the  Reform  Bill  had  exposed  them  to  popular 
obloquy ;  Lord  Grey  himself  had  openly  threatened  them, 
and  the  press  was  fall  of  attacks  on  Episcopacy  and  the 
Establishment.  Lord  Grey's  Act  for  suppressing  ten 
Irish  bishoprics  was  regarded  as  the  first  outburst  of 
the  gathering  storm ;  timid  Churchmen  trembled  for  the 
very  existence  of  their  Church,  and  the  Oxford  ]\Iove- 
ment  was  set  on  foot  with  the  deliberate  purpose  of 
defending  the  Cburch  and  the  Christianity  of  England 
against  the  anti-Catholic  aggressions  of  the  dominant 
Liberalism. 

The  University  of  Oxford  was  the  natural  centre 

for  such  a  reaction.     The  constitution  of  the  University 

and  collea'es  was  semi-ecclesiastical ;  the  Heads 

Oriel  the  ... 

centre  of       were  clcrical  dio-nitaries  :  nearly  all  the  fellows 

the  Moye-  °  ^  '' 

meut  were  bound  to  be  in  Holy  Orders.     Among  the 

colleges,  Oriel  then  held  the  first  rank,  both  as  a  place  of 
education,  and  as  the  home  of  a  speculative  and  learned 
society  among  the  fellows.  Copleston,  its  last  Provost, 
had  been  a  man  of  remarkable  capacity,  and  he  was  ably 


2o6     The  University  of  Oxford 

secondecl  by  sucli  colleagues  as  Davison  and  Wliately. 
The  system  of  tuition  at  Oriel  was  the  best  in  Oxford, 
and  as  it  was  the  first  college  to  throw  open  its  fellow- 
ships, it  was  able  to  attract  the  ablest  of  the  young 
graduates.  It  was  known  that  Oriel  fellows  were 
Kolected  not  merely  on  the  evidence  of  the  class-list,  or 
by  the  results  of  competitive  examination,  but  also  by  a 
discriminating,  though  arbitrary,  estimate  of  their 
social  qualities  and  probable  intellectual  development. 
They  were,  therefore,  a  select  body,  somewhat  inclined 
to  mutual  admiration,  producing  little,  but  freely  criti- 
cising everything.  The  result  was  an  Oriel  school  of 
thought,  commonly  known  as  the  Noetics,  who  applied 
an  unsparing  logic  to  received  opinions,  especially  those 
concerning  religious  faith,  but  whose  strength  lay  rather 
in  drawing  inferences  and  refuting  fallacies  than  in 
examining  and  settling  the  premisses  from  which  their 
syllogisms  were  deduced.  Still,  Oriel  fostered  a  bright 
and  independent  intellectual  life  of  its  own ;  the  Oriel 
school  was  a  standing  protest  against  the  prevailing 
orthodoxy  of  mere  conformity,  and  it  became  the  con- 
genial head-quarters  of  the  Oxford  Movement. 

Pusey  and  Keble  were  among  the  fellows  of  Oriel, 
when  John  Henry  Nevvman  was  elected  to  a  fellowship 
John  Henry  ^^  1823,  and  later,  in  1826,  became  tutor  in 
ewman  succcssion  to  Jclf.  Ncwmau's  early  life  at 
Oxford  was  a  solitary  one.  He  did  not  seek  friends,  and 
in  the  Oriel  common-room  his  shy  and  retiring  nature 
sometimes  concealed  his  real  power.  As  Wesley's 
sympathies  were  originally  with  High  Church  doctrines, 
so  Newman's  were  originally  with  Evangelical  doctrines  ; 
he  was  connected  with  the  Evangelical  set  at  St.  Edmund 


The  '  Oxford  Movement'  207 

Hall  ;  he  was  for  a  time  secretary  to  the  Society  for 
Promoting  Christian  Knowledge,  and  he  actually  helped 
to  start  the  '  Record '  newspaper.    In  the  early  develop- 
ment of  his  ideas  he  owed  much  to  the  robust  intellect 
of  Whately  and  the  accurate  criticism  of  Hawkins,  who 
succeeded  Copleston  as  Provost  in  1827.    But  his  rever- 
ence was  reserved  for  Keble,  whose  '  Christian  Year ' 
appeared  in  the  same  year  and  gave  the  first  secret 
impulse  to  the  Movement,  of  which  Newman  became 
the  head.     In   the  following  year,   Pusey,  then  little 
known  to   Newman,  returned  to  Oxford   as  Professor 
of  Hebrew  and  Canon   of  Christchurch,  unconsciously 
destined  to  give  his  own  name  to  Newman's  followers. 

At  this  period  Newman  had  no  intention  of  heading 
the    Oxford  Movement,    still  less  of  founding  a  new 
Origin  of       party  in  the  Church.     His  Evangelical  prin- 
tiJThner'     ciples  werc  gradually  frilling  away  from  him, 
and  he  was  girding  himself  up  for  a  great  struggle  with 
Secularism  as  represented  by  a  Liberal  Government,  but 
the  first  steps  in  the  Tractarian  agitation  were  not  taken 
by  him.    In  1832  he  travelled  in  Italy  with  his  friend  and 
pupil,  Richard  Hurrell  Fronde ;  and  it  was  from  him 
that  Newman  imbibed  his  veneration  for  the  Virgin  and 
the  Saints,  his  antipathy  to  the   Reformation,  and  his 
respectful   toleration    of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 
They  went  so  far  as  to  inquire   upon  what  conditions 
they  would  be  allowed  to  communicate  in  that  Church, 
but  were  repelled  on  hearing  that  a  subscription  to  the 
decisions  of  the  Council  of  Trent  would  be  required. 
It  was  during  Newman's  absence  abroad,  in  July  1833, 
that  Keble  preached  his  Assize  Sermon  on  '  National 
Apostasy,'  which  may  be  said  to  have  struck  the  first 


2o8  The  University  of  Oxford 

note  of  tlie  Movement,  and  in  tlie  same  year  Peter 
Maurice  sounded  tlie  alarm  against  '  Popery  in  Oxford.' 
A  series  of  '  Tracts  for  the  Times '  was  projected  at  a 
conference,  also  held  during  Newman's  absence,  by  a 
small  body  of  his  friends,  but  tlie  plan  was  matured  at 
subsequent  conferences  in  Oriel,  where  Nevsinan  was 
present,  and  Keble  warmly  supported  it  in  letters  of 
advice  to  which  tbe  utmost  deference  was  paid.  The 
proposed  aim  of  these  Tracts  was  expository  rather  than 
controversial ;  tliey  purported  to  enlighten  the  prevailing 
ignorance  on  Church  principles  and  Church  histoiy. 
They  were  to  ajopear  anonymously,  and  eacli  writer 
was  to  be  responsible  only  for  bis  own  production.  The 
difficulty  of  maintaining  this  principle  of  limited  lia- 
bility was  foreseen  from  the  first,  and  prudent  friends 
of  the  Movement  were  in  favour  of  a  judicious  censor- 
ship, but  Newman  was  inflexible,  and  his  will  prevailed. 
The  immediate  outcome  of  tliese  Oriel  conferences 
was  tlie  formation  of  an  association  designed  to  rally  all 
friends  of  tbe    Churcb  ao'ainst  the   common 

Association  ~ 

formed  euomy.  This  was  the  signal  for  which  zealous 
Churchmen  had  been  waiting,  and  it  met  with  an 
enthusiastic  response  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  An 
address  to  tlie  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  was  drawn  up 
and  signed  by  eight  thousand  of  the  clergy,  insisting 
upon  the  necessity  of  restoring  Church  discipline, 
maintaining  Church  principles,  and  resisting  the  growth 
of  latitudinarianism.  A  large  section  of  the  laity 
ranged  themselves  on  the  side  of  the  revival.  Meetings 
were  held  throughout  England,  and  tlie  King  himself 
volunteered  a  declaration  of  his  strong  affection  for  the 
National  Cburch,  now  roused  from  its  apathy,  and  pre- 


The  'Oxford  Movement^  209 

pared  to  defend  itself  vigorously,  not  merely  as  a  true 
branch  of  the  Catholic  Church,  but  as  a  co-ordinate 
power  with  the  State. 

Newman  had  returned  from  Italy  deeply  imbued 
?7ith  the  conviction  that  he  had  a  definite  mission  to 
N-ewman        fulfil.     He  was  uo  Icss  firmly  assured  of  the 
i,sumes    e    ^^^^   £qj,  in(3iyi(jLial   actiou    at  this  juncture 
than  impelled    to    it   by  his    own    self-reliant   nature. 
While  others,  therefore,  were  urging  combinations  and 
committees  as  the  best  methods  of  working,  Newman's 
strong  individuality  revolted  from  joint  control,  espe- 
cially in  the  form    of  a   '  Committee  of  Revision,'  and 
pressed  him  forward  to  strike  the  first  blow  for  himself. 
He  took  counsel  with  Froude  alone,  when,  in  the  autumn 
of  1833,  he  suddenly  brought  out  the  first  of  that  series 
of  Tracts  from  which  his  party  derived  its  familiar  name 
of  Tractarians.     In  so  doing  he  took  his  own  colleagues 
by  surprise,  and  precipitated  the  crisis  destined  to  result 
from  the  publication  of  the  Tracts.      From   that  day 
forth  he  was  the  recognised  leader  of  the  Tractarians. 
No  one  among  them  was  equally  fitted  for  that  position. 
Keble  was   too   modest   and    studious    by   disposition, 
Pusey  was  not  an  original  pioneer  of  the  movement, 
Froude  was  disqualified  by  delicate  health.     Newman 
stepped  naturally  into  the  place.     The  influence  which 
he  gained   in  his  own   college  as  a  tutor,  and  in  the 
University  as  a  preacher  from  the  pulpit  of  St.  Mary's, 
had  drawn  round  him  a  band  of  followers  ;  his  s^^mpa- 
thetic  character  won  the   confidence  ot  young  minds ; 
his  confessions  of  speculo'-ive  doubt  added  weight  to  his 
acceptance  of  dogmatic  authority.     Yet  the  secret  of 
his    personal    ascendency  was  never   fully  revealed   to 

P 


210  The  University  of  Oxford 

himself,  nor  did  lie  ever  fully  realise  tlie  impression  pro- 
duced bv  his  sermons.  To  him  the  Tractarian  Move- 
ment  was  '  no  movement,  but  the  spirit  of  the  times.' 
He  felt  himself,  not  the  leader  of  a  new  party,  but  a 
lo^^al  son  of  the  old  Church,  now  awakened  from  her 
lethargy.  He  claimed  no  allegiance  and  issued  no  com- 
mands. It  was  through  friends  and  disciples,  as  we 
aearn  from,  himself,  that  his  principles  were  spread,  and, 
as  in  the  case  of  Socrates,  their  reports  of  his  conversa- 
tions were  perhaps  the  main  source  of  the  spell  which 
he  exercised  over  tiie  Universitv  and  the  Church. 

The  adhesion  of  Pusey  in  1835  was  a  great  accession 
of  streno-th  to  the  Tractarians.  He  had  contributed  a 
Spread  and  Tract  to  the  series  in  December  1833,  but  he 
the^mov*e-  ^^^  ^*^^  formally  join  the  Movement  until  a 
SSiou^f*^'  y^^^  ^^^  ^  ^^^^^  later.  His  learning,  social 
Tract  xc.  conn€ctions,  and  official  position  gave  it  a 
certain  dignity  and  solidity  in  which  it  had  been  lack- 
ing. Recruits  now  offered  themselves  in  abundance, 
and  gifted  young  men  spent  their  days  and  nights  in 
poring  over  materials  for  the  Library  of  the  Fathers 
originated  by  Pusey,  or  in  journeying  from  pla<je  to 
place,  in  the  spirit  of  the  Methodist  Revivalists,  though 
in  the  pursuit  of  a  very  different  ideal.  But  the  in- 
fluence of  Tract" arianism  over  Oxford  thought  must  not 
be  exa  Of  operated.  While  it  fascinated  manv  subtle  and 
imaginative  minds  of  a  high  order,  and  gathered  into 
itself  much  of  the  spiritual  and  even  of  the  intellectual 
life  of  the  University,  there  were  many  robust  intellects 
and  earnest  hearts  which  it  not  only  failed  to  reach  but 
stirred  into  hostility.  If  it  would  be  easy  to  draw  up  an 
imposing  list  of  eminent  Oxford  men  who  became  Tract- 


The  'Oxford  Movement^  211 

arians,  it  would  not  be  less  easy  to  enumerate  an  equal 
number  of  equally  eminent  men  who  consistently  opposed 
TractarianisTu,  and  predicted  that  it  mnst  lead  to  Roman- 
ism.    Nothing  was  further  from  the  original  intentions 
ind  expectations  of  Newman  himself.     His  obj ect  was  to 
revive  the  usages  and  doctrines  of  the  primitive  Church  ; 
to  co-operate,  indeed,  with  the  Church  of  Rome,  so  far  as 
possible,  but  to  keep  aloof  from  its  pernicious  corrup- 
tions;    to  establish    the    catholicity    of  the   Anglican 
Church,  but,  above  all,  to  hold  the  via  media  laid  down 
by  its  founders.     His  faith  in  Anglicanism  was  first 
disturbed  in  the  Long  Vacation  of  1839  by  his  supposed 
discovery  of  a  decisive  analogy  between  the  position  of 
the  Monophysite  heretics  and  that  of  the  Anglican  com- 
munion.    Still,  though   he  was  gradually  assimilating 
the  doctrines,   he  rebelled  against  the  abuses  and  ex- 
cesses, of  the  Roman  Cnurch.     Anglicanism   as  a  dis- 
tinctive creed  had  become  untenable  to  him,  but  he 
clung  to  a  hope  that  its  title  might  be  lineally  deduced 
from  the  primitive  Church,  instead  of  being  founded  on 
a  secession  from  the  Church  of  Rome.     It  was  in  this 
frame  of  mind  that  he  published  Tract  XC.  in  the  year 
1841,   for  the  purpose  of  showing  that  the  Articles  of 
the    English    Church    were   directed,  not   against   the 
doctrines  of  the  Church  of  Rome  as  interpreted  by  the 
Council  of  Trent,  but  against  earlier  heresies  disavowed 
by  that  Council. 

This  Tract  brought  the  Movement  to  a  climax.  It 
was  received  with  a  storm  of  indignation  throughout 
the  country.  The  bishops  delivered  charges  against  it, 
the  great  mass  of  Churchmen  regarded  it  as  an  attack 
on  the  Protestant  Establishment,  and  a  direct  invitation 

p  2 


212  The  University  of  Oxford 

to  Eomanism.  The  Bishop  of  Oxford  intervened,  and 
the  farther  issue  of  Tracts  was  stopped.  Henceforth  the 
Collapse  of  real  tendency  of  Tractarianism  was  disclosed, 
ian^^and^^ '    and  its  promotcrs  were  hopelessly  discredited. 

secession  of      -.-r  n  -\    i       ^  •  .  •  j  i      j. 

Kewmau  Ncwman  lound,  to  his  own  great  surprise,  that 
his  power  w^as  shattered.  He  retired,  during  Lent  18  iO, 
to  his  parish  at  Littlemore,  entrusting  St.  Mary's  to  a 
curate,  in  view  of  his  possible  resignation.  His  loyalty 
to  the  English  Church  wavered  more  and  more  as  he 
renewed  his  study  of  the  Ariau  controversy,  and  his 
misgivings  were  intensified  by  the  hostile  attitude  of 
the  bishops,  as  well  as  by  an  incident  which  to  a 
secular  mind  would  have  appeared  trivial — the  insti- 
tution of  the  Jerusalem  bishopric  on  a  semi- Anglican 
and  semi-Lutheran  basis.  His  resignation  of  St.  Mary's 
in  the  autumn  of  1843,  two  years  after  the  publication 
of  Tract  XC,  was  due  to  an  impulse  of  despondency 
on  failing  to  dissuade  a  young  friend  from  conversion 
to  Romanism.  After  preaching  his  last  sermon  there 
lie  retired  into  lay-communion,  giving  up  all  idea  of 
acting  upon  others,  and  turning  all  his  thoughts  in- 
wards. Two  years  later,  on  October  8,  1845,  his  re- 
maining difficulties  being  removed,  he  was  himself 
received  into  the  Church  of  Eonie,  and  finally  left 
Oxford  early  in  the  following  year.  Though  his  defec- 
tion had  long  been  foreseen,  it  caused  a  profound  shock 
throughout  the  English  Church.  The  first  panic  was  suc- 
ceeded by  a  reaction ;  some  devoted  adherents  followed 
him  to  Rome  ;  others  relapsed  into  lifeless  conformity  ; 
and  the  University  soon  resumed  its  wonted  tranquillity. 
The  'Hampden  Controversy,'  in  1836,  may  be  re- 
garded as  an  episode  of  the  Tractarian  revival,  already  in 


The  '  Oxford  Mo  vement  *  213 

full  course  of  development.  This  controversy  arose  out 
of  Dr.  Hampden's  Bampion  Lectures  on  Scholastic 
^j^^  Philosophy,  delivered  in  1832,  which,  however, 

'Hampden    \^^^  attracted  little    attention  until    he    was 

Contro- 

^^'"'i'  appointed  Regius  Professor  of  Divinity  four 
years  later.  No  sooner  was  this  appointment  known, 
than  an  anti-Hampden  Committee  was  formed,  of 
which  Pusey  and  Newman  were  members.  The 
Crown  was  actually  petitioned  to  recall  its  nomina- 
tion, but  this  petition  was  coldly  rejected  by  Lord 
Melbourne,  and  a  vote  of  censure  on  Dr.  Hampden, 
proposed  by  the  Hebdomadal  Board,  was  defeated 
in  Convocation  by  the  Proctors'  joint-veto — a  very 
unusual,  but  perfectly  constitutional,  exercise  of  the 
Proctorial  authority.  A  war  of  pamphlets  ensued,  and 
the  vote  of  censure  being  reintroduced,  after  a  change 
of  Proctors,  was  carried  by  an  overwhelming  majority. 
According  to  the  opinion  of  eminent  counsel,  the  pro- 
ceeding was  illegal,  as  transgressing  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  University  under  the  Charter  of  1636,  but  the  sen- 
^.ence  was  never  reversed,  and  Dr.  Hampden  remained 
under  the  ban  of  the  University,  excluded  from  various 
privileges  of  his  office,  until  his  elevation  to  the  See 
of  Hereford  in  1847.  The  opposition  to  him  then 
broke  out  afresh,  and  the  Dean  of  Hereford,  in  a  letter 
to  Lord  John  Russell,  held  out  a  threat  of  resistance 
to  the  Royal  conge,  dJelire.  The  answer  of  Lord  John 
Russell  was  such  as  might  be  expected,  but  thirteen 
bishops  supported  the  Dean's  protest  by  a  remonstrance, 
which  Lord  John  Russell  met  by  a  peremptory  refusal 
to  make  the  prerogative  of  the  Crown  dependent  on 
the  caprice  of  a  chance  majority  at  one  University, 


214  The  University  of  Oxford 

largely  composed  of  persons  wlio  had  since  joined  tlie 
Church  of  Rome.  Nevertheless,  a  final  attempt  was 
made  to  negative  the  '  confirmation  '  of  Dr.  Hampden's 
appointment  at  Bow  Church.  An  argument  on  this 
point  in  the  Court  of  Queen's  Bench  ended  in  a  dis- 
missal of  the  case,  owing  to  differences  of  opinion  among 
the  judges,  and  on  March  25,  1848,  Dr.  Hampden  was 
duly  consecrated  Bishop. 

On  the  other  hand,  while  Newman  was  in  retire- 
inent  at  Littlemore,  Pusey  was  suspended  from  preach- 

Proceedin  s  '^^^  ^^  ^^®  University  pulpit  for  two  years,  on 
a^^ahist  ^  report  from  a  board  appointed  to  examine  a 
aud  War  scmion  delivered  by  him  at  Christ  Church,  in 
which  he  was  alleged  to  have  affirmed  the  Real  Presence 
in  a  sense  inconsistent  with  the  doctrines  of  the  Church. 
Soon  afterwards,  Dr.  Hampden,  as  Regius  Professor  of" 
Divinity,  inhibited  from  his  B.D.  degree  a  candidate 
who  had  declined  to  be  examined  by  him  on  Tradition 
and  Trans ubstantiation.  The  right  of  examination  was 
challenged  by  the  candidate,  but  upheld  by  the  Dele- 
gates of  Appeals,  to  whom  the  question  was  referred. 
On  November  20, 1844,  Mr.  Ward,  a  fellow  of  Balliol,  was 
summoned  before  the  Vice-Chancellor,  and  questioned 
respecting  the  authorship  of  a  book  entitled  '  The  Ideal 
of  a  Christian  Church.'  A  war  of  pamphlets  ensued, 
but  in  the  end,  on  February  18,  1845,  a  proposition  was 
submitted  to  Convocation,  densely  crowded  with  non- 
residents, condemning  Ward's  doctrines  as  inconsistent 
with  the  Articles,  with  his  subscription  thereto,  and 
with  his  own  good  faith  in  subscribing.  This  resolu- 
tion was  carried  by  a  large  majority,  and  a  further 
resolution,  for  the  degradation  of  Ward,  was  carried  by 


The  'Oxford  Movement''  215 

a  smaller  majority.  A  tliircl  resolution,  condemning 
Tract  XC,  had  been  appended,  but  was  negatived  by 
tlie  joint  veto  of  the  Proctors.  It  had  actually  been 
intended  to  subjoin  to  the  first  resolution  a  declaration 
annexing  a  new  sense  to  subscription,  and  thus  creating 
a  new  test,  but  this  addition  was  ultimately  withdrawn 
in  deference  to  a  legal  opinion,  which  also  denied  the 
validity  of  Ward's  deprivation. 

With  these  proceedings  the  academical  history  of 
the  Tractarian  Movement  may  properly  be  closed, 
Effect  of  the  tliough  many  distinguished  members  of  the 
MOTement'  University  joined  the  Church  of  Rome  at  a 
later  period,  especially  afrer  the  celebrated 
judgment  in  the  '  Gorham  Case,'  establishing  liberty  of 
opinion  on  Baptismal  Regeneration.  For  several  years 
after  Newman's  conversion,  the  progress  of  the  Neo- 
Catholic  Revival  w^as  arrested,  and  w^hen  it  took  a  new 
departure  under  the  name  of  Ritualism,  it  ceased  to 
draw  its  inspiration  from  the  University  of  Oxford. 
Nevertheless,  the  work  of  Newman  and  his  fellows  left 
its  mark  on  the  University  as  well  as  on  the  English 
Church.  The  effect  of  his  speculative  teachiug  was 
infinitely  weakened  by  his  own  conversion  to  Rome,  but 
the  efiect  of  his  practical  teaching  could  not  be  dissi- 
pated. In  the  widespread  restoration  of  churches,  in 
the  improvement  of  church-services,  and  in  the  greater 
energy  of  religious  life  within  the  Anglican  communion, 
we  may  still  recognise  the  influence  for  good  which 
emanated  from  the  Oriel  common-room. 

Thirty  years  after  his  own  suspension.  Dr.  Pusey, 
now  regarded  as  a  champion  of  orthodoxy,  came  forward 
with  certain  other  Doctors  of  Divinity,  to  bring  a  charge 


2i6  The  University  of  Oxford 

of  heresy  against  ]\Ir.  Jowctt,  of  Balliol,  tlie  Eeglns  Pro- 
fessor of  Greek,  who  had  contributed  to  the  volume 
CcntroTcrsy  Called  '  Essajs  and  Reviews.'  A  suit  was  in- 
EiKiowment  stituted  iu  the  Chancellor's  Court,  and  on 
Greek  February  6,  1863,  a  iudgment  was  delivered  by 

Professor-        ^  ^        ,  ^    -^       '  '      ^        ^  ^  ^,  . 

i^M;..  Ml".  Mount  ague   Bernard,    as  assessor.     Inis 

Mr.  Glad-  judgment  disallowed  the  defendant's  protest 
1865  against  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Court  in  spiri- 

tual matters,  or  over  a  Regius  Professor ;  but,  in  effect, 
arrested  the  proceedings  without  deciding  the  case 
-on  its  merits.  A  somewhat  undignified  controversy 
followed,  and  greatly  disturbed  the  peace  of  the  Uni- 
Tersity,  on  the  question  of  increasing  the  very  meagre 
^endowment  of  the  Greek  Professorship — a  measure 
which  Dr.  Pusey  opposed  on  the  sole  ground  that  it  would 
strengthen  the  position  of  the  existing  Professor.  The 
partisanship  engendered  by  the  long  struggle  on  this 
question  divided  the  senior  members  of  the  University 
into  hostile  camps,  and  often  determined  their  votes  on 
•matters  which  had  no  connection  with  the  subject.  At 
last,  on  February  18, 1865,  a  compromise  was  effected,  by 
•accepting  the  offer  of  Christchurch  to  endow  the  Pro- 
fessorship. The  University,  in  truth,  was  heartily  sick 
of  the  controversy,  and  even  the  High  Church  residents 
were  unwilling  to  please  the  non-resident  clergy  by 
perpetuating  an  apparent  injustice  which  damaged 
their  own  credit  with  the  abler  students.  In  the  follow- 
ing summer,  Mr.  Gladstone,  who  had  been  elected 
Member  of  Parliament  for  the  University  in  1817,  and 
whose  seat  had  been  contested  at  every  subsequent 
•election,  was  defeated  by  Mr.  Gathorne  Hardy.  This 
event  established  the   supremacy  of  the   Conservative 


The  'Oxford  Movement^  217 

party  in  tlie  constituency,  and,  thougli  a  contest  took 
place  in  1878,  the  result  was  never  doubtful,  and  the 
fierce  passions  incident  to  constant  trials  of  political 
strength  have  sensibly  died  away.  Thus,  two  fruitful 
sources  of  academical  discord  were  removed  within  a 
few  months  of  each  other.  The  last  twenty-one  years 
have  witnessed  many  warm  discussions  and  close  divi- 
sions in  the  University  legislature,  but  they  have  been 
mainly  on  academical  issues,  and  have  seldom  been 
embittered  by  the  odium  theologiciim.  Since  18G5,  a 
tacit  concordat  has  prevailed  between  the  two  great 
schools  of  thought  in  Oxford,  and  a  philosophical 
toleration  of  opinion  has  superseded  the  intolerant 
dogmatism,  not  confined  to  one  party  in  the  Church, 
which  had  its  orig^in  in  the  Neo-Catholic  Revival. 


CHAPTEE   XIX. 

THE   UNIVERSITY  IN    1886.  .» 

The  last  chapter  of  University  history  covers  a  period 
within  living  memory,  and  practically  coextensive  with 
Reign  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Victoria.  Its  main  interest 
Victoria  cousists  in  the  rapid  succession  of  theological 
controversies  which  have  agitated  the  academical  mind, 
and  in  the  series  of  internal  reforms  dating  from 
1850.  Both  of  these  subjects  have  been  separately 
considered,  but  it  still  remains  to  review  briefly  the 
strange  transformation  wrought  in  the  various  aspects 
of  University  life  within  the  lifetime  of  the  present 


2i8  The  Umveksity  of  Oxford 

generation,  not  so  mucli  by  external  interference  as  by 
the  natural  growth  of  new  social  conditions. 

On  the  accession  of  Queen  Victoria  the  college- 
system  was  already  established  on  its  present  basis,  and 
state  of  the  effective  University  examinations  had  put  an 
on  the  end  to  the  licensed  idleness  of  the  eighteenth 

accession  ceutury.  But  the  University  and  the  colleges 
were  still  governed  respectively  by  antiquated  codes  of 
statutes,  which  it  would  have  been  no  less  disastrous  than 
impossible  to  enforce  strictly,  but  from  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  it  required  the  intervention  of  the  Legislature  to 
release  them.  Though  a  considerable  number  of  able 
students  destined  for  the  Bar  were  attracted  by  scholar- 
ships and  the  prospect  of  fellow^ships,  Oxford  was  still 
mainly  a  clerical  and  aristocratic  seminary,  exercising  a 
very  slight  influence  on  the  scientific  or  commercial  world, 
and  little  affected  by  their  fashions.  Until  it  was  con- 
nected with  the  metropolis  by  railway,  it  retained  the 
distinctive  character  of  a  provincial  town,  and  many 
eccentric  recluses  of  a  type  now  obsolete  were  still  to  be 
found  in  college  rooms,  who  had  never  entered  a  London 
club  or  drawing-room.  The  whole  authority  of  the  Uni- 
versity was,  in  fact,  exerted  to  keep  the  railway  at  a  dis- 
tance, and  the  Oxford  branch  was  not  opened  before  June 
12,1 844.  Though  Oxford  was  much  frequented  by  visitors 
in  the  summer  term,  not  without  injury  to  continuity 
of  study,  its  atmosphere  was  still  essentially  academical, 
if  not  scholastic,  and  the  conversation  as  wxll  as  the 
social  tone  of  its  residents,  both  graduates  and  under- 
graduates, differed  sensibly  from  those  of  their  con- 
temporaries in  the  metropolis  and  elsewhere.  Oxford 
Dons  had  not  altogether   lost  the  traditional    charac- 


The  University  in  1886  219 

teristics  of  tlieir  class ;  the  model  Oxford  first-class  man, 
assuming  to  have  mastered  classical  literature,  Greek 
philosophy,  and  ancient  history,  which  he  regarded  as 
the  staple  of  human  knowledge,  was  accused  of  exhibit- 
ing the  pride  of  intellect  in  its  purest  form  ;  young 
priests  of  the  new  '  Oxford  School '  assuredly  carried 
sacerdotal  presumption  to  its  logical  extreme  ;  and  the 
chartered  libertinism  of  '  fast  men '  in  one  or  two  Oxford 
colleges    sometimes    brought    scandal    on    the   whole 
University.    No  doubt  the  habits  of  Oxford  '  collegians ' 
fifty  years  ago  would  have  compared  favourably  with 
those  of  their  grandfathers,  still  more  with  those  of  the 
squalid  but  industrious  students  who  begged  their  way 
to  the  University  in  the  Middle  Ages.     Nevertheless, 
hard  drinking  and  its  concomitant  vices  were  by  no  means 
obsolete,    even  in  common-rooms,  and  though   under- 
graduates cultivated  the  manners  of  young  gentlemen, 
their  ordinary  moral  code  was  probably  but  little  above 
that  which  then  prevailed  in  the  army  and  the  navy. 
Side  by  side,  however,  with  the  self-indulgent  circles  of 
undergraduate  society,  there  was  a  limited  set  deeply 
impressed  by  the  ascetic  teaching  of  the  Neo-Catholic 
school,  whose  practical  influence  on   its   disciples  re- 
sembled in  many  respects  that  of  the  Evangelical  school 
at  Cambridge,  however  different  in  its  theological  basis. 
The  prevailing  narrowness  and  intensity  of  theological 
opinion  was  perhaps  favoured  by  the  narrowness  of  the 
University  curriculum.     Classics  and  mathematics  re- 
tained  a   monopoly    of  studies;  few  wasted   time   on 
modern  languages,  history,  or  natural  science ;   while 
music  and  art  in  all  its  aspects  were  regarded  by  most 
as  feminine  accomiDlishments.      Since  professors  were 


220  The  University  of  Oxford 

very  scarce,  and  tutors  (being  fellows)  were  unable  to 
marry,  family  life  and  social  intercourse  with  ladies  liad 
no  place  in  an  University  career.  The  members  of  each 
college  associated  comparatively  little  with  '  out-college 
men,'  in  the  absence  of  clubs,  debating  societies,  and 
other  bonds  of  non-collegiate  union.  Rowing  and 
cricket  were  vigorously  cultivated  by  young  men  from 
the  great  public  schools,  and  hunting  was  carried  on, 
especially  by  noblemen  and  gentlemen-commoners, 
with  a  lordly  disregard  of  economy ;  but  for  the  mass  of 
students  there  was  no  great  choice  of  games  and  recrea- 
tions, at  least  in  the  winter.  Those  who  did  not  aspire 
to  Honours,  being  the  great  majority,  had  no  occasion  to 
read  hard,  and  often  lived  for  amusement  only,  since 
there  was  an  interval  of  full  two  years  between  Respon- 
sions  and  '  the  Schools,'  unbroken  by  any  examination. 
Those  who  read  for  Honours  generally  read  with  a 
steadiness  and  singleness  of  purpose  incompatible  with 
much  attention  to  any  other  pursuit.  Various  as  these 
elements  were,  they  were  readily  assimilated  by  the 
University,  which  seldom  failed  to  leave  a  distinctive 
stamp  upon  one  who  had  passed  through  it,  and  Oxford 
culture  retained  a  peculiar  flavour  of  its  own. 

In  the  course  of  the  last  fifty  years,  a  profound 
though  almost  unseen  change  has  gradually  passed  over 
Influence  of  the  facc  of  the  old  University.  The  introduc- 
changes  tiou  of  representative  government  into  the 
academical  constitution  has  not  only  cleared  away 
many  abuses,  but  has  at  once  popularised  and  centralised 
University  administration.  The  recognition  of  Un- 
attached Students  has  broken  down  the  monopoly  of 
colleges  \  the  abolition  of  close  fellowships  has  infused 


The  University  /a^  1886  221 

new  blood   and   new    ideas    into   tlie   more   backward 
collegiate    bodies;    tlie    spontaneous    development   of 
numerous  clubs  and  associations— atliletic,  literary,  or 
political— lias    created   many  new  ties  among   under- 
graduates,   and  weakened  tlie   old  exclusive  spirit  of 
college  partisansliip.    The  'Combined  Lecture  System,' 
under  wkicli  tlie  inmates  of  one  college  may  receive  in- 
struction in  another,  has  also  favoured  a   division  of 
labour  among  tutors    which   is    directly  conducive   to 
specialism   in  teaching.     The   great  extension  of  tlie 
professoriate,   including   the  new   order  of  University 
Readers,  and  still  more  the  liberal  encouragement  of  new 
studies,  has  infinitely  expanded  the  intellectual  interests 
both  of  teachers  and  of  students ;  the  admission  of  Non- 
conformists and  the  progress  of  free  thought  have  power- 
fully modified  theological  bigotry ;  the  multiplication  of 
feminine  influences  has  undermined  the  ideal  of  semi- 
monastic  seclusion,  and  greatly  increased  the  innocent 
gesthetic   distractions  which  are  the  most    formidable 
rivals  of  the  austerer  Muses.     The  gulf  between  Oxford 
society  and  the  great  world  outside,  never  very  impass- 
able, has  been  effectually  bridged  over  in  every  direction. 
A  very  large  proportion  of  professors  and  college  tutors 
have  travelled  widely ;  many  are  well  known  in  London 
as  contributors  to  scientific  and  literary  periodicals  or 
otherwise ;  while  Oxford  itself  is  constantly  thronged 
with  visitors  from  the  metropolis.     In  ceasing  to  be 
clerical  and  aristocratic,  the  University  has  become  far 
more   cosmopolitan;    all    religions  are   there   mingled 
harmoniously,  nor  is  it  uncommon  to  meet  in  the  streets 
young  men  of  Oriental  race  and  complexion  wearing 
academical  costume. 


222  The  University  of  Oxford 

In  tlie  meantime,  a  marked  and  widespread  reforma- 
tion has  been  wrought  in  the  morals  of  the  University, 
Present  and  notwithstanding  the  influx  of  a  large  ple- 
of  thTuJli-  beian  element,  the  manners  of  undergraduates 
versity  ^^^^  become  gentler  as  their  tastes  have  become 
more  refined.  The  ostentation  of  wealth  has  been 
visibly  diminished,  and,  notwithstanding  the  increase  of 
amusements,  there  is  probably  more  of  plain  living  and 
hio'h  thinkino'  in  modern  Oxford  than  in  the  Oxford  of 
Charles  II.  or  Elizabeth  The  University,  it  is  true, 
has  yet  to  harmonise  many  conflicting  elements,  which 
mar  the  symmetry  of  its  constitution  ;  but  it  is  becom- 
ino-  more  and  more  identified  with  the  highest  intel- 
lectual  aspirations  of  the  nation  as  a  whole  In  ceasing 
to  be  the  intellectual  stronghold  of  the  mediaeval  Church, 
or  the  instrument  of  Tudor  statecraft,  or  the  chosen 
training-school  for  the  Anglican  clergy,  it  may  have 
lost  something  of  its  ancient  supremacy,  but  it  has 
asserted  its  national  character ;  and  it  has  perhaps 
never  exercised  a  more  widespread  control  over  the 
national  mind  than  it  possesses  in  these  latter  years 
of  the  nineteenth  century. 


INDEX. 


■•o*- 


ABBEYS 

Abbeys  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Oxford,  3,  50 

Abbot,  George,  arohbp.  of  Canter- 
bury, lOi,  108  • 

Abelard,  4,  7 

Abendon,  Henry  de,  warden  of 
Merton,  58 

Abingdon  abbey,  3;  outrage  on 
the  monks  in  1327  ;  37 

Academical  life,  see  Oxford  Uni- 
versity 

AcL  of  Uniformity  passed  in 
16fi2,  its  application  to  College 
fellowships,  152 

Addison,  Joseph,  179 

Aldrich,  H  ,dean  of  Christchurch, 
164 

Alired  the  Great,  alleged  founda- 
tion of  the  University  by,  1  ; 
Asser's  biography  of,  1 ;  found- 
ation of  University  College 
at'ributed  to,  4 

All  Souls  college,  see  under  Ox- 
ford 

Allied  Sovereigns,  reception  of  in 
1814;  100 

Anne,  queen,  visits  Oxford  26 
Aug.  17o2;  164 

Anstlm,  4 

Aristotelian  philosophy,  teachers 
of  the  mendicant  Orders,  the 
leading  exponents  of,  50 


BALLIOL 

Aristotle,  his  XatuTol  Philo- 
sophy, 4  ;  recognised  as  the 
supreme  authority  on  rhetoric, 
lo3i'%  and  all  three  philoso- 
phies, -65 

Arran,  Earl  of,  becomes  Chan- 
cellor, 167 

Articles,  Thirty  nine,  subscrip- 
tion to,  92,  104,  173,  180;  the 
Three,  125;   the  Six,  80 

Arundel  marbles  presented  in 
1677;  155 

Ashmolean  Museum  opened  in 
1683;  155 

Asser,  his  contemporary  bio- 
graphy of  King  Alfred,  1 

Association  formed  in  supjjort  of 
the  Church,  208 

Atterbury,  F.,  dean  of  Christ 
Church,  165 

August  ines,  see  Monks  and 
Fr-'ars 

Austins',  or  disputations,  49 

Averroes,  4 

Avicenna,  4 

Avignon,  34 


Bacon,  Roger,  8  ;  liberal  spirit 

of  his  teaching,  52 
Bainbridge,  John,  119 
Balliol  college,  15,  17 


224 


The  University  of  Oxford 


BASLE 

Basle,  57,  58 

Beaumont  palace  at  Oxford,  6, 
6 

Benedictines,  7,  49 

Bentham,  Jeremy,  179  ;  his  ob- 
jection to  signing  tiie  39  Ar- 
ticles, 180 

Berkele5%  bp.,  183 

Bernard,  4 

Bible,  authorized  version  of, 
Oxford  scholars  engaged  in  it, 
103 

♦Black  Congregation,'  %^ 

Black  Death,  ravages  of  the,  37 

Bluckstone,  sir  Will.,  his  profes- 
sorial lectures,  180 

Boarding  schools,  3 

Boccaccio,  28 

Bodleian  Library,  59-61 ;  see  also 
Humphry,  Duke 

Bodley,  sir  Thomas,  refounded 
the  University  Library  in  1602 ; 
95,  96 

Bologna,  7,  16 ;  school  of  law  in 
the  Universit}"  of,  4 

Botanic  Gardens,  116 

Bo3'le,  Robert,  154 

Brasenose  college,  74 

Brent,  sir  Nathaniel,  warden  of 
Merton,  119  ;  chairman  of  the 
Parliamentary  Visitors,  140 

Buckingham,  duke  of,  107 

Burke,  Edmund,  declines  an 
honorary  D.C.L.  degree,  185 

Burnet,  Bp.,  162;  his  complaints 
of  Oxford  Toryism,  164 

Button,  Ralph,  of  Merton  coll., 
142 


Camhridg-e,  early  secession  of 
students  to,  38 ;  the  Univer- 
sity less  Jacobite  than  Ox- 
ford, 164 

Canterbury  college,  32 

•Cardinal  College,'  see  under 
Oxford,  Ch.  Ch. 


CLAEENDON 

Carleton,  George,  bp.  of  Chiches- 
ter, selected  to  represent  Eng- 
land at  the  bynod  of  Dort, 
103 

Carmelites,  50 

Castle,  Oxford,  2 

Catholic  emancipation,  petition 
against,  in  1810;  189 

*  Chamber-dekynSj'or  unattached 
students,  22,  23  ;  their  disor- 
derly conduct  in  early  times, 
22 ;  abolished  by  the  statute 
of  1432  ;  22 

Champeaux,  William  of,  tutor  of 
Abelard,  7 

Charles  I.  visits  Oxford  in  August 
1636;  116;  march esinto  Oxford 
1642,  after  the  'oattle  of  Edge- 
hill,  128;  is  lodged  at  Christ 
Church,  128  ;  summons  his  so- 
called  I'arliament  (at  Oxford), 
in  June  1644  ;  133 ;  orders 
special  forms  of  pra.yer  to  be 
used  in  college  chapels  for 
the  success  of  his  cause,  134 

Charles  II.,  his  first  visit  to  Ox- 
ford (1665),  156;  his  second 
visit  (1681),  157 

Charlett,  Dr.,  Master  of  Univer- 
sity College,  182 

Chaucer,  Geoffrey,  28 

Chester  eld.  Lord,  176 

Cheynell,  F.,  138 

Chillirgworth,  William,  116 

Christ  Church,  75,  78,  128 

Church,  the,  th  foster  mother  of 
the  University,  3  ;  association 
formed  in  support  of,  208, 
209  ;  effect  of  the  Oxford 
Movement  on,  215 

Cimabue,  28 

Civil  War,  first  events  of,  as  af- 
fecting the  University,  127; 
last  two  years  of,  132-134 

Clarendon  building  and  Press, 
186-7 

Clarendon,  earl  of,  his  evidence 


Index 


225 


CLASSICAL 

on  the  results  of  the  Parlia- 
mentar}'-  Visitation,  150 

Classical  lectureships  founded,  78 

Classics,  become  the  staple  of 
University  studies  after  the 
Kestoration,  155 

Clevelnnd,  Barbara  Villiers,  Lady 
Cas'lemaine,  afterw.  Duchess 
of,  156 

Coffee-houses,  150,  156 

Coke,  Edward,  106 

Colet,  John,  71 

College  disputations,  25 ;  gar- 
dens, 156  ;  leases  regulated  by 
Acts  of  13  and  18  Eliz.,  89, 
90;  Ordinances  framed  under 
the  University  Reform  Act  of 
1851;  196,197;  their  benefi- 
cial effects,  197,  198  ;  plate, 
128,132 

Colleges,  rise  of,  15 ;  early  Ox- 
ford Colleges  not  confined  to 
one  Faculty,  16 ;  a  safe  and  well- 
regulated    home    to    younger 
students,  24  ;  their  superiority 
to   lodging  -  houses   or   halls, 
25  ;    Colleges    and   Chantries 
Act,  80  ;  leniency  towards,  81- 
83  ;    regarded  with  favour  as 
seminaries   of  classical  learn- 
ing, 82  ;  invested  by  Leicester 
■with  increased  control  of  Uni- 
versity government,   90  ;    see 
also  Oxford  Colleges  and  Halls 
Collegiate  system,  perhaps   bor- 
rowed from  Paris,  16 
Commission,  Eoyal,  issued  1850; 
194,   195      of    inquiiy,   1872; 
200;  of    1877,   statutes  marie 
by,    201;  -the    University    as 
regulated  by  it,  203 
Common-rooms  at  Oxford,   the 
earliest  at  Merton  coll.  in  1661 ; 
156 
Commons,    House    of,    assumes 
authority  over  the  University 
in  1629  ;  109  ;  issues  an  order 


DEGREES 

for  the  University  (1641),  125, 
126  ;  abolishes  subscription  to 
« the  Three  Articles,'  125 
Comprehension  Scheme,  164 
Conant,   Dr.,   rector   of   Exeter, 
appointed    vice-chancellor    of 
the  University,  148 
Constance,  Council  of,  58 
•  Constitution    Club,'    the,    at- 
tacked   by  a  Tory  mob,  166; 
the  scene  of    a  less    serious 
political  commotion  in  1716; 
168  r  died  out  before  the  end 
of  George  I.'s  reign,  169 
Convocation    of    the    clergy  in 

1382;  36 
Convocation  House,  116 
Coplescon,   Bp.,  his  defence  of 

university  studies,  188 
Copredy    Bridge,    many  Oxford 

scholars  engaged  at,  133 
Corbet,  E.,  138 
Cordova,  4 

Corpus  Christi  college,  72,  73 
Councils,  57 

Cranmer,  archbp.,  80;    tried  at 
Oxford,   84  ;    his  recantation 
and  martyrdom,  84,  85 
Crimes  of    violence  committed 

by  scholars,  23 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  visits  Oxford 
in  state.  May  17,  1649;  144, 
becomes    chancellor    in   Jan. 
1650;    145;  his   liberal  treat- 
ment of  the  University,  145; 
resigns  the  chancellorslup  on 
Jaly  3,  1657  ;  147  ;  his  scheme 
for  a  new  university  at  Dur- 
ham, 148 
Cromwell,  Richard,  elected  Chan- 
cellor of  the  University,  1657; 
148 ;  resigns  the  Chancellorship 
in  1660;  151 


Dante,  28 

Degrees,  65-67,  et  passim 


Q 


226 


The  University  of  Oxford 


DETERMINATION 

*  Determination,'  63 

Disputations,  49;  181;  super- 
seded by  a  system  of  public 
examinations,  which  soon  be- 
come ineffective,  115-117 

Dissenters'  Toleration  BiU,  1779 ; 
173 

Divinity  School,  60 

Divorce  ques'.ion,  the  (16th 
cent.),  75 

Domesday  book,  silence  of  re- 
specting the  University,  2 

Dominicans,  49 

Dorchester  Abliey,  50 

Dort,  Synod  of,  103 

Douay,  Catholic  seminary  of,  94 

Duppa,  Brian,  119 

Durham,    University    of,     148  ; 

.Durham,  William  of,  the  institu- 
tion founded  by,  not  a  college, 
but  an  exhibition-fund  to  be 
administered  by  the  Univer- 
sity, 17 


Earle,  John,  bp.  of  Salisbury, 
119 

.Educational  movement,  the, 
sprung  from  the  Eeformation, 
popular  rather  than  academi- 
cal, 69  ;  Reasons  of  this,  69 

Edward  III.,  King,  charter 
granted  to  the  University  by, 
47 

•  Edwardine'  code,  81 ;  iconoclas- 
tic in  its  spirit,  81 ;  liberal  in  its 
dealings  with  Colleges,  81 

Edwardine  Visitors,  see  Visitors 

Eighteenth  century,  decay  of 
University  education  in,  174, 
175  ;  the  dark  age  of  academi- 
cal history,  174 ;  contemporary 
evidence,  175,  176 

Eldon,  Lord,  176,  189 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  accession  of, 
in  Nov.  1558;  87;  see  Visita- 
tion, Elizabetlaan ;  literature  of 


FRANCISCANS 

her  reign  not  academical,  94  ; 
actively  patronised  Oxf  >  )rd  cul- 
ture in  the  later  part  of  her 
reign,  95;  her  visits  to  Oxford 
in  J  566  and  1592;  97,  98 

*  Engagement,'  the,  144 

*  English  nation,"'  at  Paris,  8 
Episcopac)',  123 

Erasmus,  his  testimony  to  Ox- 
ford scholarship  in  1497;  70^ 
71 

Eton  School,  70 

Evelyn,  John,  154,  155,  163; 
visits  Oxford  in  1654  ;   149 

Examination  instituted  for  the 
B.A.  and  M.A.  degrees  in  16B8 ; 
177;  of  Public  Schools,  Joint- 
Board  for,  199 

Examinations,  Local  (1857), 
199  ;  under  the  Laudian 
Statutes,  114 

Exeter  college,  31 

Eynsham,  abbey  of,  3,  50;  un- 
dertakes in  1219  to  provide  for 
poor  scholars,  12 


Fairfax,  Lord,  his  conciliator)'- 
proposals  to  the  University 
(]  646),  135  ;  Fairfax  and  Crom- 
well visit  Oxford  togelher  in 
state  on  i\[ay  17,  1649  ;  144 

Fell,  John,  dean  of  Christ 
Church,  141 

Fell,  Mrs.,  M2 

Fell,  Samuel,  119 

Flemmyng,  Pvichard,  bp.  of  Lin- 
coln, his  main  object  in  found- 
ing Lincoln  College,  to  extir- 
pate the  Wycliffite  heresy,  r;8 

Fourteenth  centurj'-,  ihe  most 
progressive  in  the  history  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  27 

Fox,  Richard,  bp.  of  Winchester, 
72  ;  regarded  as  the  fouudL-r 
of  the  professorial  system,  73 

Franciscans,  49,  51 


Index 


227 


FRIARS 

Friars,  ?ec  Monks  and  Friars 

Frideswide  chest,  the,  for  the 
relief  of  poor  scholars,  the 
earliest  form  of  corporate  pro- 
perty held  by  the  University, 
12 

Frideswide,  St.,  see  St.  Frides- 
wide 

Froude,  Richard  Hurrell,  207 


Gentilis,  Albericus,  97 

George  I.,  bis  accession  receired 
at  Oxford  with  sullen  disap- 
pointment, 166  ;  sends  a  troop 
of  horse  to  overaw^e  the-Uni- 
versit}^  167  ;  never  deigned  to 
visit  Oxford,  170 

George  TI.,  fulsome  address  pre- 
sented to  him  by  the  Oxford 
Convocation,  172 

George  III.,  with  his  accession 
Jacobitism  dii^appears  or  fades 
into  Toryism  of  the  modern 
type,  172;  his  visits  to  Oxford, 
172,  171  ;  his  reply  to  the  first 
loyal  address  from  the  Uni- 
versity, 172 

Gibbon,  E.,  176  ;  his  estimate  of 
the  University,  177 

Giraldus  Cambrcnsis,  8  ;  publicly 
reads  at  Oxford  his  work  on 
the  topography  of  Ireland,  6 

Gladstone,  William  Ewart,  de- 
feated in  1865  by  Mr.Gathorne 
Hardy,  216 

Gloucester,  duke  of,  see  Hum- 
pliry,  the  '  good  '  duke 

Gloucester  Hall,  49,  50 

Goddard,  Jonathan,  Warden  of 
Merton,  146,  154 

Goodwin,  Thomas,  President  of 
Magdalen  coll.,  146 

Graf  Ion,  George  Villiers,  Duke 
of,  bom  in  Merton  coll.,  157 

Grammar-schools  and  Halls, 
duties  \  aid  by,  13 ;  rise  of,  94 


HENRY 

G  rati  an,  4 

*  Great  Congregation,'  67 

*  Greeks  and  Trojans,'  the,  73 
Grenville,  lord,  elec:ed  chancel- 
lor in  1809  ;  189 

Grocyn,  delivers  the  first  public 

lectures  on  Greek  (loth  cent.), 

70,71 
Grostete,  Robert,  bp.  of  Lincoln, 

8,  9 ;  his  life  and  influence  in 

the  University,  51 


Hales,  John,  patronised  by 
Laud, 116 

Halls,  duties  paid  bj'",  13  :  un- 
endowed, mostly  hired  from 
the  citizens  by  clerks,  13; 
number  of,  13  :  Principa's  of, 
sometimes  illiterate  and  not 
of  necessity  graduates  until 
1432;  22 

Hammond,  Henry,  rector  of 
Penshurst,  119;  removed  from 
his  canonry  of  Ch.  Ch.,  142 

Hampden,  John,  124 

*  Hampden  controversy,' the,  212- 
214 

Hampton  Court  conference,  104 

Hardy,  Gat  home,  defeats  Mr. 
Gladstone,  216 

Hearne,  Thomas,  the  Oxford 
chronicler,  175 ;  his  evidence 
on  the  dominant  Toryism  of 
Oxford,  165 

Henrietta  Maria,  queen,  her  re- 
ception and  residence  at  Ox- 
ford (1643),  130 

Henry  I.,  lived  much  at  0  cford 
and  at  Woodstock.  5 ;  built 
the  palace  of  Beaumont,  5 

Henry  II.,  resided  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Oxfoixl.  6 

Henry  III.,  9 ;  his  charters 
granted  to  the  University  in 
1244  and  1255;  14,  15 

Henry  VIII.,  founds  live  Regius 

q2 


228 


The  University  of  Oxford 


HENRY 

Professorships,  and  refoimds 
Cardinal  College,  78  ;  his  pro- 
tection of  University  endow- 
ments, 79 

Henrv,  Prince,  his  death  in  1612  ; 
102 

Hert  Hall,  33 

Hertford,  Marquis  of,  Chancellor 
of  th.e  University,  133,  151 

Hertford  college,  182,  197 

tli2li  Commission,  104 

Holies,  D.,  121 

Humplirey,  Laurence,  President 
of  Magdalen,  88,  103 

Humphry,  the  'good'  duke. 
Library  presented  by,  59  ;  ini- 
tiates the  erection  of  a  Public 
Library  over  the  Divinity 
School,  GO,  61 ;  the  original 
collection  consisted  of  129 
volumes  only,  61 

Hyde,  Edw.,  bee  Clarendon,  earl 
of 


«  Inception,'  statutahle  qualifi- 
cations for,  64;  M.A.  degree 
chieflj'-  sought  as  a  passport 
to,  65 

linerius,  opens  a  school  of  Law 
at  Bologna,  4 


Jacobite  partisanship  shared 
alike  by  '  dons '  and  under- 
graduates, 164 

Jacobitism,  gradual  decline  of  in 
Oxford,  during  the  reign  of 
George  IL  ;  170 

James  I.,  his  patronage  of  the 
University,  101,  102;  visits 
Oxford  (1605),  101  ;  his  atti- 
tude towards  the  University 
and  the  Church,  102 ;  his 
gradual  adoption  of  Arminian 
theories,  103 

James  11.  (as  Duke  of  York), 


LAUD 

not  unpopular  in  the  Univer- 
sity, 158;  his  outrages  on 
University  rights,  159 ;  his 
treatment  of  Magdalen  Coll., 
159 

Jefteries,  judge,  160 

Jewell,  bp.,  83,  88 

Jewry,  attack  on  the,  15 

John  of  Gaunt,  35 

John  of  SalisVjury,  5 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  176;  his 
appreciation  of  the  College 
system,  181 

Jones,  Sir  William,  of  Univ. 
Coll.,  182 

Jowett,  Benj.,  Regius  Professor 
of  Greek,  216 

Jurisprudence,  Roman,  cultiva- 
tion of,  4 

Juxon,  William,  119 


Keble,  rev.  John,  197,  206  ;  his 
'Christian  Year'  appears  in 
1827  :  207 

Keble  College,  foundation  of, 
197 

Kemp,  John,  58 

King,  Dr.  William,  Principal  of 
Stt  Mary  Hall,  his  Jacobite 
appeal  in  the  Theatre,  in  1754; 
171 


Lanfranc,  4 

Lang- on,  Stephen,  8 

Latimer,  Bp.,  84 

Laud,  archbp.,  rise  and  influence 
of,  101-106 ;  his  creed  and 
policy  adopted  by  the  Court 
and  the  Univer.-^ity,  106  ;  elec- 
ted Chancellor  in  April,  1630; 
109 ;  his  chancellorship,  101>- 
111 ;  his  reforms  o''  University 
and  College  discipline,  110; 
his  services  to  the  University, 


Index 


22^ 


L  \  UDIAN 

115,  llf) ;  last  five  years  of  his 
Chancellorslur-,  116-119;  re- 
signs the  Chancellorship,  June 
26, 1641  ;  117  :  his  administra- 
tion of  the  University  attacked 
on  his  impeachment,  118 

'  Laudian '  or  '  Caroline'  Statutes, 
compihitionoF,  111-113;  super- 
seded, in  many  essential  par- 
ticulars, by  the  University  Re- 
form Act.  of  18n4  ;  112  ;  main 
jDrovisions  of,  113;  their  oli- 
garchical tendency,  113; 
studies  and  examinations  un- 
der, 114,  115;  question  about 
the  perpetuity  of,  1 83 

Lectures  and  examinations,  final 
organisation  of,  in  the  15th 
cent.,  Gl 

Leice  ter,  Robert  Dudley,  earl 
of,  becomes  chancellor  of  the 
University  in  1564;  88;  his 
administration,  89-93 

Library,  the  earliest  possessed 
by  the  University,  29  ;  see,  also 
Rodleian  Library  and  Hum- 
phry, duke 

Linacre,  Thomas,  71  ;  his  post- 
humous foundation  ot"  two 
Readerships  in  Physiology  at 
Merton  college,  72 

Lincoln  college,  58 

Litera' Humcininres  School  estab- 
lished in  the  present  century, 
193 

Local  examinations  estabhshed 
in  1857  ;  199 

Locke,  John,  his  expulsion  from 
the  University,  159 ;  urges  the 
King  to  reform  the  Univer- 
sities, 162 

Lodging-houses,  25 

Lollardism,  in  1411;  37 

Lombard,  Peter,  his  '  Sentences,' 
7 

London  Committee,  appointed  to 
receive  reports  from  the  Par- 


MONKS 

liamentary  Visitor?,  140 ;  dis- 
solved in  April  1652  ;  145 
Lowth,    bp.,   his   description  of 
his  academical  life,  179 


Macclesfield,  lord,  lord  chan- 
cellor, his  plan  for  controlling 
the  Uni/ersity  through  go- 
vernment patronage,  169 

Magdalen  bridge,  188 

Magdalen  College,  159-161 

Magdalen  Uall,  see  Hertford 
college  ; 

Malmesbury,  L-^rd,  176 

Manno'S,  University  life  an(L 
before  Colleges  were  planted, 
20-22 

Marsh  (de  Marisco),  Adam,  friend 
of  Grostete.  52 

Martyr,  Peter,  lectures  of,  81; 
his  wife,  86 

Mary,  accession  of,  in  1553, 
ushered  in  a  short-lived  reac- 
tion, 83 

Ma  on,  sir  John,  elected  chan- 
cellor in  1552  ;  88 

Massey,  John,  160 

Meadowcourt,  Richard,  fellow  of 
Merton,  his  Whig  partisanship 
and  degradation,  168 

Mendicant  Orders,  49,  50 

Merton  college,  see  under  Oxford 

Methodist  Revival,  the,  17S 

'Moderations'  establisljed  by 
statute,  of  1850;  193 

Monasteries,  the,  dissolution  of, 
contributing  to  depopulate  the 
University,  80 

Monastic  Orders,  35 

Monks  and  Friars  at  Oxford,  48, 
seqq.;  August'nian  canons  at 
St.  Frideswide's,  48 ;  Augtis- 
tinian  Friars,  seHle  in  Ox- 
ford in  1251  or  1252 ;  49  ;  ac- 
quire almost  a  monopoly  of 
grammar-teaching,   53 ;  Bene- 


^30 


The  University  of  Oxford 


MENDICANT 

dictincs,  7,  49  ;  Benedictine 
monks  of  St.  Frideswide,  48 ; 
Carmelites,  the,  settle  in  Ox- 
ford in  1254;  tiO ;  Dominicans, 
the,  first  appear  in  Oxford  in 
1221 ;  49  ;  Franciscans,  the, 
settle  in  Oxford  about  1221; 
49  ;  owe  much  to  the  aid  and 
patronage  of  Robert  Grostete, 
51  ;  Friars,  protected  by  the 
Pope,  54  ;  position  of  at  Ox- 
ford, and  University  statutes 
against  them,  52-54 

Mendicant  Orders,  rise  of,  49, 
50 

Monmouth,  Puke  of,  159 

More,  Sir  Thomas,  71 

Music,  cultivated  at  Oxford  after 
the  Restoration,  155 


*  Negative  Oath,'  143 

New  College,  32,  33 

New  Inn  Hall,  ) 29 

Newdigate,  sh-  Roger,  173 

Newman,  John  Henry,  his  early 
life  and  intellectual  develop- 
ment, 206,  207  ;  his  career  and 
connection  with  the  Oxford 
movement,  207-12;  is  received 
into  the  Church  of  Rome,  Oct. 
8,  1845:  212 

Non- Jurors,  163 

Non-Regents.  66 

Norihampton,  early  secessions  of 
students  to,  38 

Northern  and  Southem  nations, 
encounters  between  them,  29, 
37  ;  proctors  of  the  University 
chosen  from  in  1343  ;  41 

Nowell,  Dr.  Thomas,  173 


Oath,  Negative,  143 

Occham,  William  of,  35  ;  chal- 
lenge-: the  supremacy  of  the 
Pope,  34 


OXFORD 

Orange,  Prince  of,  his  recepiiou 
by  the  University  (1734),  170 

Oriel  college,  31,  205 

Ormond,  duke  of,  his  impeach- 
ment and  resignation,  167 

Oseney  Abbey,  6,  50,  59,  78; 
riot  at  in  1238;  14 

Oxford  City,  a  resort  of  students 
and  a  place  of  education  before 
tlie  Norman  Conquest,  2 ; 
number  of  its  monastic  es- 
tablishmenls,  2;  early  schools 
of,  2,  3;  Heniy  I.  lived  much 
at,  5  ;  councils  held  by  Stephen 
at,  6  ;  young  scholars  of,  lod^e 
in  religious  houses,  6  ;  murder 
of  three  students  by  towns- 
people in  12U9 ;  9, 10  ;  penalties 
imposed  by  the  Papal  Legate, 
10 ;  the  Mayor's  oath  imposed 
in  1248;  15;  pestilence  in, 
29,  37,  98;  riots  in  1297  and 
1354;  43-5;  agreement  with 
Univ  ,  1298  ;  43  ;  further  riots, 
120  ;  interdict  laid  u[  on,  46  ; 
penance  done  by  the  citizens 
of,  46,  47  ;  the  SheriiT's  oath 
(1581),  99;  Parliament  at, 
107-109  ;  contribution  for  the 
King's  service,  and  first  occu- 
pation by  Pa  rl  iamentary  troops, 
126-128;  Charles  I.  marciies 
into  (1642),  128  ;  queen  Hen- 
rietta Maria's  reception  and 
residence  at  (16  J  3),  130;  be- 
comes Royal  headquarters 
during  the  Civil  War.  129 ; 
measures  taken  for  its  defence, 
1 29  ;  ravaged  by  a  great  tire 
(1644),  133,  134;  Parliament 
summoned  at  (1644),  133;  first 
siege  of  (May,  1643),  134  ;  the 
siege  hastily  abandoned  (June 
5),  134 ;  second  siege,  and 
proposals  of  Fairfax  guaran- 
teeing University  privileges 
(1646),  135,  136  ;  surrender  of 


Index 


231 


OXFORD 

(K,ifi),  136  ;  Charles  II/s  visit 
to  (1665),  156;  and  his  visit 
(lOSl),  157  ;  Parliament  as- 
sembled and  dissolved  at 
(1681),  157  ;  relieved  from  the 
penance  on  St.  Scholastica's 
day  in  lS25,and  from  the 
♦Mayor's  Oath'  in  1859,  190, 
191 

Oxford,  Beaumont  paLice  at,  5 ; 
the  birthplace  of  Richard  I., 
5  ;  Ciistle,  the,  embracing  the 
C<5!1  g  ate  Church  of  8t. 
George,  2  ;  Jewrj',  the,  violent 
attack  on,  15  ;  tSt.  George 
within  the  Castle,  Collegiate 
Church  of,  2,  6;  St.  Mary's 
Church,  50,  60,  153;  School 
Street,  3,  59,  60 

Oxford  University,  mythical 
origin  of,  1,  2;  its  alleged 
foundation  by  Alfred  the 
Great,  1  ;  silence  of  Domes- 
day book  respecting,  2 ;  the 
Church  its  fos' er-mother,  3  ; 
lectures  of  Yacarius  about 
1149 ;  5 ;  earlier  lectures  of 
Robert  Pull  en,  6  ;  Giraldus 
Cauibrensis  publicly  reads  at, 
in  lis-;  or  1187;  6;  not  fuUy 
constituted  in  121-1;  11; 
progress  during  reign  of 
Henry  III.,  8,  9,  51 ;  fully  con- 
stituted by  the  middle  of 
the  ]3th  cent.,  12  ;  the  early 
sources  of  its  revenue  12,  13  ; 
earl}-  University  charters,  11; 
statutes  in  1292  ;  17 ;  University 
life  and  manners  before  Col- 
leges were  planter!,  20-22  ;  pro- 
gress of,  in  the  14th  cent.,  27 
8cqq.\  iis  intellectual  \igour, 
29-31  ;  its  European  influence, 
33,  34  ;  conflicts  between  the 
University  and  the  City,  43- 
46  ;  receives  a  new  charter  of 
privileges  from   Edward  III., 


•  OXFOED 

47 ;  position  of  the  Friars  at, 
and  University  statutes  against 
them,  52  ;  statutes  restraining 
encroachm-  nts  of  the  Friars, 
53,  54 ;  decline  in  numbers 
and  studies  in  the  15th  cent., 
55,  56  ;  its  causes,  56  ;  revival 
of  academical  life  at  end  of 
15th  cent.,  Q^ ;  checked  by 
the  Eef  ormation,  69 ;  its  action 
on  the  questions  of  the  Divorce 
and  the  Royal  supremacy 
(te:^>p.  Hen.  VIII.),  75,  76,  77  ; 
visitation  of,  in  1535  ;  77  ;  first 
eifects  of  the  He  format  i  'n 
injurious  to,  79  ;  incorporatioit 
of,  in  1571  ;  89;  Leicester's 
administration  of,  91-94  ;  de- 
pression  of  intellectual  life  in, 
94  ;  increasing  refinement  of 
academical  life,  96,  97 ;  the 
stronghold  of  Anglicanism, 
99 ;  patronised  by  James  I., 
100-102 ;  declares  its  adhesion 
to  the  dcctrine  of  Passive 
Obedience  in  1622  ;  105  ;  num- 
ber of  students  under  Laud's 
chancellorship,  116;  eminent 
members  of,  in  the  generation 
preceding  the  Civil  Wars,  119  ; 
University  life  in  the  genera- 
tion preceding  the  Civil  Wa'-s, 
120-122  ;  conduct  during  Civil 
Wars,  122-135 ;  conduct  during 
Parliamentary  Visitation,  141- 
9 ;  reception  of  Fairfax  and 
Cromwell  by  (1649),  144  ; 
state  of,  on  the  recovery  of  its 
independence,  149 ;  the  Re- 
storation and  new  Visitation 
of  (1660),  151 ;  enjoys  com- 
parative repose  under  Charies 
JI.,  153  ;  extension  of  the 
University  buildings,  153,  1"  4 ; 
decree  of,  adopting  doctrine  of 
Passive  Resistance,  158  ;  pub- 
licly burned,  165  ;  couduct  of, 


232 


The  University  of  Oxford 


OXFORD         • 

on    the    outbreak    of    ]\ron- 
mouih's    rebellion,    159  ;     its 
attitude  towards  the   llevolu- 
tion  (1688-9),  1G2;  University 
politics  between  the  Revolution 
and  tlie  accession  of   George 
III.,  162-71 ;  becomes  a  hotbed 
of  Jacobite  disaffection,  163;  a 
troop  of  horse  sent  to  overawe 
it,   167 ;    government  scheme 
for  reforming  it,   168-9;   ac- 
cords an  enthusiastic  reception 
to  the  Prince  of  Orange,  1734  ; 
170 ;    address    from,    on    the 
peace   of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  re- 
jected,    171  ;     George    Ill.'s 
visits  to,    172-171;  petitions 
(1799)  against  tlie  Dissentcs' 
Toleration  Bill,  173  ;  decay  of 
University  edacation    in   the 
18th  cent.,  174-177;  statutes 
affecting  the,    1 84  ;  visited  in 
1814  by  the  Allied  Sovereigns, 
190 ;  petitions  against  various 
reforms,  189  ;  Royal  commis- 
sion  issued  1850;   194,    195; 
University     Reform     Act     of 
1854;    112;    its    main  provi- 
sions,  196,   197;   Coll?ge   Or- 
dinances  framed  under,    196, 
197 ;  their  beneficial    effects, 
197,    198 ;  University  Reform 
Act  of  1876,  its  object  and 
main    provisions,     200,    201 ; 
state  of  on  queen  Victoria's  ac- 
cession, 218-220,'  influence  of 
recent   changes  in,  220,   221 ; 
its  present   character  (1886), 
222;  Chancellor,  office  of,  11, 
12-42,    47;   Vice-Chancellor's 
office,    26,    91-113;   Proctors, 
their  office  and  authority,  26, 
40-1,  91 ;  Proctorial  cycle  in- 
stituted,   109;  'Congregation, 
Black,'     66  ;     *  Congregation, 
Great,'       67  ;       Convocation, 
University,      67 ;      Bodleian 


OXFORD 

Library,  59-61  ;  Botanic  Gar- 
dens, 116 ;  Clarendon  building, 
186  ;  Convocation  House,  116; 
Divinity      School,     the,     60  : 
Library,  the  earliest  possessed 
by    the    University,    29      tiee 
Humphry,     Duke  ;     Radcliffe 
Library,  Infirmary,  and  Obser- 
vatory, 187;  Schools,  the  Old, 
59 ;    Schools,    the  New,  com- 
pletion  of,    106 ;    Sheldonian 
Theatre,     erection     of,     153  ; 
Taylor  Institution,  187;  Uni- 
versity Press,  187 
Oxford  Colleges  and  Halls — All 
Souls  College,  58-9,  147;  Bal- 
liol  College,  15,  17  ;  Brasenose 
Colle,:^e,  statutes   of,  74  ;  Can- 
terbury College,  32  ;  '  Cardinal 
College.'     See  Christ  Church; 
Christ   Church,  75-8;  Charles 
I.  lodged  at  (1642),  128  ;  Cor- 
pus Coristi  Co.lege,  its  foun- 
dation   by  bp.    Fox.    72,  73 ; 
Exeter  College,  foundation  of, 
31  ;  Gloucester  Hall,  occupied 
by  Bt  nedictines,  49,  50  ;  Hert 
Hall,   33;    Hertford    College, 
statutes   of,  framed  in  1747; 
182  ;      Magdalen     Hall,     re- 
founded   under  the  name  of, 
197  ;  Lincoln  College,  founded, 
58 ;  Magdalen  College,  founda- 
tion of,  59;  James  1 1. 's  treat- 
ment of,  159  ;  Magdalen  Hall. 
See.  Hertford  Colle-e  ;  IMerton 
College,  ]  5, 18-20,  156,  181-2 ; 
the   model   of  all    other    col- 
legiate  foundations,  18 ;  New 
College,    foundation     of     by 
William  of  Wykeham  (1379), 
marks  anew  departure  in  colle- 
giate history,  32,  33  ;  New  Inn 
Hall,  mint  established  at,  129  ; 
Oriel   College,  foundation  of, 
81 ;  the  centre  of  the  '  Oxford 
Movement,'    205  \    Pembroke 


Index 


233 


OXFORD 

College,  foundation  of,  J 06; 
Queen's  College,  foundation 
of,  31  ;  yt.  John's  College, 
foundation  of,  86  ;  St.  Mary's 
College,  71  ;  Trinity  College, 
foundation  of,  86  ;  University 
College,  15,  16  ;  m>th  attribut- 
ing its  fouuvlation  to  Alfred, 
2 ;  Wadham  College,  founda- 
tion of,  106.  See  also  under 
Collec'cs 

*  Oxford  Movement,'  the,  204-17 

Oxford,  the  see  of,  78 


Paris,  University  of,  its  origin 
and  constitution,  7, 8  ;  a  model 
of  academical  organisation  for 
Oxford,  8  ;  decline  of  the,  in 
the  l-lthcent.  ;  33 ;  discredited 
by  subservience  to  Pope  John 
XXIL,  33,  34 ;  migration  of 
students  from,  51;  curriculum 
and  examinations  of,  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  62,  63 

Parker,  Arclibp.,  policy  of,  87, 88 

Parliament,  at  Oxford,  108-9; 
passes  an  ordinance,  on  May  1, 
1647,  for  the  visitation  of  the 
University  and  Colleges,  1 40 

Parr,  Dr.,  his  list  of  Oxford 
graduates  in  the  18th  cent., 
179 

Passive  Resistance,  158 

Peel,  sir  Robert,  his  election  in 
1817  and  defeat  in  1829;  189 

Pembroke,  Philip,  earl  of,  chan- 
cellor of  the  University,  super- 
seded by  the  Marquis  of  Hert- 
ford, 132,  133,  139,  143 

Pembroke  college,  106 

Peter  the  Lombard,  4 

Petty,  William,  154 

Pilt,  "William,  denounces  Oxford 
Jacob  it  ism,  171 

Plate,  College,  128  ;  loan  of  de- 
sired, 132 


EEYNOLDS 

Pole,  Card.,  visitation  and  reforms 
of,  85 

Pope,  the,  defends  the  Friars,  54 

Portland,  Duke  of,  his  installa- 
tion, in  1793 ;  184 

Prideaux,  Humphrey',  dean,  1 75 

Proctors,  and  Proctorial  author- 
ity, 26,  40,  41,  91,  109 

Professorships,  five  Regius, 
founded  and  endowed  by 
Henry  VIII.,  78 

Prynne,  William,  124 

Pullen,  or  PuHeyne,  Robert,  6,  8 

Puritanism,  growth  of,  in  the 
University  during  the  reign  of 
James  I.,  101 

Pusey,  Dr.  Edw.  Bouverie,  206, 
210,  214,  216 

Pym,  John,  106,  124 


QuADrvTviuM,  the,  4,  64 
Queen's  College,  81 


Radcliffe    Library,  Infirmary, 

and  Observatory,  187 
Railway,     the     Oxford    branch 

opened  1844  ;  218 
Raynolds,  Dr.,  Warden  of  Mer- 

ton,  87 
Hcctores  Sclidlarum,  11 
Reformation,     academical     life 

check  ei  by,  69,  79 
•  Regent '  Masters,  65,  66 
Renaissance  (the),  its  origin,  70 
Residence    for    degrees    in    the 

higher  faculties,  67 
Responsions,  63 

Restoration  (the)  and  new  Visi- 
tation of  the  University,  151 
Revolution    of    1688-9     quietly 

accepted  at  Oxford,  162 
Rewley,  the  Cistercian  Abbey  of, 

50 
Reynolds,  Edward,  138,  142,  152 


234 


The  University  of  Oxford 


RICH 

Eich,  Edmund,  arclibp.  of  Can- 

terbur}^  9 
Richard  I.,  born  at   Beaumont 

palace,  5 
Kicliard  of  Armagh,  loose  state- 
ment   oF,    as    to   number   of 

scholars,  14 
Richmond,  Miss  Stuart,  afterw. 

Duchess  of,  156 
Ridley,  Bp.,  burned,  84 
Roval  Commission   of  1850,   its 

report,  194,  105 
Royal    Society,    holds    its    first 

meetings  at  Oxford,  154 
Royal  Supremacy,  75-77 
Rupert,  Prince,  117,  128,  136 


Sacheveeell,  Dr.,  of  Magdalen, 
his  popularit}",  165 

St.  Frideswide,  monastery  and 
schools  of,  3,  48,  78 

Sr.  George  within  the  Castle, 
church  of,  2,  6 

St.  John's  college,  86 

St.  Mary's  Clinrch,  50,  60,  153 

St.  Mary's  college,  71 

Salerno,  Univ.  of,  7 

Savile,  Sir  Henry.  95 

Savilian  Professorships,  107 

School  Street,  3,  59,  60 

'  Schools  of  Oxford,'  the  germ  of 
the  Universit}',  3,  6 

Scho  .Is,  the  '  Old,'  69  ;  the '  New, 
103 

Schovols  of  Paris,  see  Paris 

•Sciences'  (the)  in  the  12th 
century, 4 

Scott,  sir  William,  his  tutorial 
lectuics,  180 

Selden,  John,  106,  119,  142 

Shakspeare,  William,  95 

Sheldon,  Gibbert,  wai'den  of  All 
Souls.  119,  M2,  152;  arclibp. 
of  Canterbury  in  1GG3,  Chan- 
cellor in  IGnj:  153;  founds 
Sheldonian  theatre,  153 


TRINITY 

Six  Articles,  80 

Smith,   Adam,   his  evidence  on 

Oxford  studies,  176 
Smith,    Sydney,   his   attack    on 

University  studies,  188 
Smyth,  Dr.  Ilichavd,  84 
Somerset,  the  Protector,  80 
Sorbonne,   the,    founded    about 

1250;  16 
South,  Dr.  Robert,  public  orator, 

154 
Southern  'nation,' 5^(?  Northern 

and  Southern  nations 
Sports,  manly,  tt'vii).  Charles  I., 

121 
Stamford,  *  University '  at,  39,  40 
Statutes  made  by  Commission  of 

1877; 201 
Stephen,  King,  held  Councils  at 

Oxford,  6 
Stiidium  generale,  3,  5 
Studies,  University,  character  of 

at  various  periods,  9,  61,  95, 

114  174-6,  191 
Subscription  to  the  39  Articles, 

92,  173,  180 
Swilt,  Dean,  176       ' 


Taylor  Institution,  187 

Tests,  University,  327;  abolition 
of  in  1871  :  198 

Terrce  Filil,  149,  154 

Thirty-nine  Articles,  Subscrip- 
tion to,  estab.ished  by  Leices- 
ter, 92 

Three  Articles,  the,  104 

'  Town  and  g'own  rows,'  120 

Tractarian  Movement,  contrasted 
with  the  Methodist  Revival, 
204-15 

•  Tracts  for  the  Times,'  origin  of, 
207  ;  publication  of  Tract  XC, 
210-212 

Tresham,  Dr.  Will.,  canon  of  Ch. 
Ch.,  87 

Trinity  college,  86 


Index 


23s 


TRI  VIALS 

Trivials  and  Qnadri\ials,  4,  64 
•  Trojans,'  and  '  Greeks,'  73 
Tutorial  sy.stem  in  colleges,  temp. 

Charles  I.,  121 
Twelfth  century,  the,  intellectual 

revival  of,  3,  4 
Twyne,  Brian,  119 


'  U^TATTACHED  '    OT   '  Non-Colle- 

giate '  students,  order  of  in- 
stituted, 197 
Uniformity,  Act  of,  152 
UnirersUas  liter  aria,  3 
Universities,  rise  of,  throughout 

Europe  in  the  14th  cent ,  28  ; 

see  '  Oxford,'   *  Bologna,'   and 

'Paris' 
University  college,  2,  5,  16 
University     Commission,     1850, 

sec  under  Oxford 
University  Press,  187 
University  Reform  Act,  112, 196- 

201 
University  Tests,  198 
Urban,  Pope,  bull  of  in  1368  ;  42 


Vacaeius,  professor  of  Bologna, 
his  lectures  in  civil  law,  5 

Victoria,  Queen,  review  of  Uni- 
versity history  during  her 
reign.  217-222 

Visitations  of  the  University, 
77,  80,  85,  87  ;  Parliamentary, 
138-150,  151 

•Visitors'  Eegiste;,'  the,  144, 149 


wykeham 

Volunteer  corps,  University,  159, 
185,  188 


Wadham  college,  106 

Wake,  sir  Isaac,  his  Rex  Plato- 

nicus,  102 
Wake,  ArcVbp.,  170 
Walker,  Obadiah,  I\laster  of  Uni- 
versity Coll.,  160 
Wallis,  Dr.  John,  Savil.  Prof,  of 

Geometry,  154 
Waltham,  Harold's  college  at,  15 
Ward,  Will.  Geo.,  fellow  of  Bal- 
liol,  condemned  by  the  Uni- 
ver.sity  Convocation,  Feb.  13, 
1845; 214 
Warham,  Archbp.,  Ill 
Wesley,  John,  181;  his  seraion 
before  the  University  in  1734  ; 
171 
Wliigs,  158,  166 
Whitelocke,  Bulstrode,  142 
Whitgifr,  archbp.,  94 
Wilkms,    Dr.    John,  Warden  of 

Wadham  Coll.,  146.  154 
William  III.,  deputation  to,  162; 

visits  the  University,  163 
William  of  Durham,  his  bequest 

to  the  University,  16 
Winchester  College,  33,  70 
Wolsey,  Cardinal,  74,  75 
Wood,' Anthony,  1  etjmssim 
Wren,  Christopher,  150,  154 
Wyclif,  John.  28,  34-6,  55 
Wvkeham,   William   of,   founds 
New  CoU.  (1379),  32,  33 


V^   OP  TH3?^^ 

;nHi7EiisiTr 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below, 
Fin 


:'!&■■■   iS 


iW^--6-^ 


Qn©iuioll<aJc^oa4(?v^6(ii  day  over 


NOV    4    1947 
JAN    19  194 


20Ma/610A 


f^    C'DLD 

M/iy  1 6  1961 
:ec'd  ld 


MAR  1 8  1963 


l8Nov'64KB 


Y\L^\^    i-J     *--* -^* 


H0V5   '64-W 


AM 


LD  21-100m-12,'46(A2012sl6)4120 


iff^ 


w 


YB  456 


ffi»i 


^> 


fCjC 


./? 


4/f  fO  6 


im<i 


^7^ 


a^ii^StmiM 


>;k>'o'> 


>;> 


>xKKK*yyy. 


y/y//y/y>:>. 

yyy'yyyVyi 


.■^ 


